Clash of the Elements: Ice and Fire
by Selenay Of Antioch
Summary: The world is stirring, and Alice's visions grow dim with the encroaching approach of an ancient immortal that all Vampire kind had thought to be killed off by the Volturi's ambitious bid for dominance of this world. EsmexCarlisle
1. Prologue: Awakening

Age of Fire and Ice

Summary: The world is stirring, and Alice's visions grow dim with the encroaching approach of ancient immortals that all Vampire kind had thought to be killed off by the Volturi's ambitious bid for dominance of this world.

It only began with Bella's return to Forks from the disastrous encounter with James back in Phoenix, Arizona…

Alice and Jasper were sitting in the hotel, the shades drawn. Bella was sitting on the phone talking to Edward, and Jasper was focused on the world outside trying to check to see if James had found their bolt-hole yet.

Alice was pacing back and forth, feeling odd. Something was causing her gift to feel like it was working through molasses in order for her to see properly and it was aggravating her. She didn't feel anything like this except when she was close to the werewolves of La Push back in Washington. But this was Arizona! There are no werewolves here! Well, there shouldn't be…so it must be something else causing her gift to be disrupted. It was getting harder and harder to see the future, especially Bella's future.

Finally, she snapped. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and so her skin wouldn't shine like the many facets of a diamond. She turned to look at Jasper, who was looking towards Bella's bedroom, an curious expression on his face.

"Jasper, it's time to get going; Edward's flight will be coming in soon, and we need to meet him there with Bella."

"Right. Bella, it's time to go." Bella came out of the bedroom, and didn't meet their eyes as she handed back the phone, "Are you ready, Bella?"

The girl quietly nodded her head, and murmured a "Yeah, let's go."

"She's planning something, love." Jasper murmured, Alice frowned. She hadn't seen anything from Bella… Something was fogging up her gift. This wasn't good.

Several hours later, there was the incident in the dance studio. Bella's broken and bleeding body lay in a pool of her own blood. Edward and Carlisle were fighting to save her, and James's body was rapidly disappearing into a pile of ash. Carlisle kept glancing off to his right, further south, feeling an oddly familiar pressure of steady heat pushing against him similar to a blast furnace. He shook his head, shrugging it off as the fire burning right behind himself.

Later, as he recalled the sensation, he realized the fire had been burning behind himself, instead of to his right, where the sensation had been coming from. But midway to Forks, Washington and stuck on an airplane, there wasn't an easy way to just turn around and go back without serious repercussions.

Some miles away, further out in the wild and flat landscape of Arizona, in the center of a great mesa, a creature stirred fitfully in its sleep. There was something it had to do, it must wake up, and finish its task. It had been dreaming, and such dreams it was having! There had been such peace and knowledge in that place of dreams, and it really wanted to stay, but wait! What was that feeling? It was encroaching! Such cold, it shivered and curled tighter. More cold! It was so cold! More of those cold entities, causing it to twist and turn, and dig deeper towards the World of Dreams they so wanted to return to.

A more rational side of its brain kicked awake, and began the slow process of waking up. It recognized the cold entities as the vital threat it had been programmed over the course of its life to keep watch for. It finished with its long task of gathering the necessary data needed to bring forward into the Waking World, and file it away for usage later, outside of the Wei Dream.

Now, the creature was ready to actually awaken.

Deep maroon eyes opened slowly as the creature they belonged to registered with slight apprehension the essence of the Cold Ones she so abhorred. She shifted slightly in her snug cave deep beneath the desert sands that had hidden her from unwanted eyes.

"_They have found me, then."_ She thought gravely.

She waited until the Cold Ones found her lair, and when a small period of time passed, perhaps another half-year or two years in her sleepy state, (time drifted by quickly) and nothing happened, she felt a small measure of surprise. They hadn't stayed, and dug into her haven. She had slept here for God knows how long, and only woke when she felt the slippery icy cold reach down at her, and touched the marrow of her bones. She shuddered with the memory of it all, wanting to forget the horrors she had witnessed at the hands of the vile coven known to her only as the Volturi.

~*Two Hundred Years Ago*~

Selenay had been naught but a young dragonet then, with her mother frantically herding her siblings and her up to the Aerie-tower to make their escape from the cliff-side mountain hold of her father's research base. It was called Lyterna, but it was home for her and the community of dragons that lived there. Her mother was a Sea-King, but as Selenay and her siblings were the first clutch by her parents, her father being a Sky-King, and no one was certain whether the hatchlings would have vestigial wings like the Sea-Kings or the strong and expansive wings of a Sky-King. Wistalia and Vraellan pushed open the enormous door to the open platform of the landing bay for the resident Sky-Kings. Irenia hurried the other two hatchlings through the door, and then bolted it shut from the outside, she turned on her hatchlings with sad eyes.

"Alright, we need to begin opening you to the skies now younglings. Wistalia, come here."

The child complied, and her mother brought her massive head down on the young female and tore open her daughter's wing-cases with quick efficiency. Vraellan came next, and his wings turned out to be vestigial like his mothers' wings. Selenay was after Vraellan, being third-hatched and the closest in resemblance to her father's form. Her wings were large, able to enclose her whole body if she were to sit up straight and wrap them around her. Out of the clutch of seven, only four had the wing-structure of a Sky-King.

Wistalia thrummed nervously, and weaved her head from side to side as she glanced out at the ocean so close to them, and yet so far. Her wings were vestigial, and it was going to be difficult for her to fly, as small as they were. She also looked the most like a Sea-King, she had a long fin-like frill traveling down from her ears to her tail-tip, and had the small and light form of a Sea-King as well, where as her sister Selenay was bigger, and more bulky-looking with all of the compact muscle that designated her to be a creature born for the skies.

Lady Irenia herself would probably fall to her death if she tried to make the jump for the ocean, Sea-Kings were created to be so fragile. She gazed sadly down at her little hatchlings.

"You must jump for the skies, try my little loves! You must try your best to escape this!" When the children crooned and whined and wrapped themselves around her legs, she growled and grasped one of her Sky-King hatchlings in her jaws and gave the child a brisk toss out into the skies, the hatchling shrieked in terror and righted itself, flapping her wings as she fought to stay aloft.

"Fly for the ocean, my love! I shall try to meet you there!"

She tossed more into the air, and Selenay was briskly flung out, her piteous cried ignored, even as large fat tears began to roll down Irenia's eyes. The three Sea-King hatchlings with her, clutched their mothers' legs and tail, and she looked down at them, and tried to think of a way to get them to the ocean. Sea-Kings would be impossible to catch once they were in the ocean, and these fellows would be no exception. Vraellan looked up at his mother, and tried to put on a brave face.

"Mother, are we going to die?" Irenia's heart broke at the question. Her child's first words as a dragon, instead of a drakka, and he asked if they were going to die.

"I hope not, little love. Come, let's try to make it to the Sea-Caves."

A startled cry of pain and terror shattered the calm, and Irenia swung her head around to see her young dragons falling to the ground, crumpling in pain from an unknown source. She blanched.

"My babies!" She screamed, her eyes growing dark with fury and fear. She spun around and yanked open the door, tearing it off the hinges and rushing down the stairs, her babies clinging to her tail as she rapidly raced through the wide corridors and passageways. At a cross-passage leading downwards, she paused to drop her hatchlings on the ground and usher them towards the Sea-Caves, Vraellan took charge like the little grown-up he was and ordered his siblings down with gruff command in his young voice. Irenia did not wait to see them past the first bend, she continued her mad dash to save her other hatchlings.

Upon reaching the outside, just below the tower, she was met with the sight of several vampires arriving in the courtyard, their hands covered in the blood of countless dragons and Alectors. With a cry of rage, she rushed them and they jumped back, as only vampires could do. One diminutive vampire stood off to the side, her gaze on the young dragons thrashing on the ground in agony.

Irenia didn't know what the child was doing, all she saw was a turned back that was unguarded. She lashed at the vampire child, and the child flitted out of reach and turned her gaze on the livid mother dragon-queen.

Irenia had fought in countless battles with countless beings, fought with other dragons for dominance. But never in her life had she been so injured as to compare with the terrible agony that was in the child's gaze. Now, as she writhed on the ground, her tail lashing every which way, she understood why her own hatchlings crumpled in the skies as they tried to escape. As she struggled and writhed on the ground, she could not even open her eyes, could not find the strength of will or thought to pull up her shields, or use her own Talent to retaliate against the vampire child.

The wild-magic faded, and Irenia stopped writhing to tremble on the ground, easy prey for the cold claws that were suddenly tearing at her body. She screamed until someone came towards her neck and tore off one of her armor-plates on her neck, revealing her tender skin underneath, with torn flesh where the armor-plate had been attached. A cold hand lashed downwards and silenced her forever.

Farther away, Selenay lifted her head blearily to see her mother come rushing out into the courtyard, she was dazed and blinked furiously to get her vision back and struggled to regain her breath that had been ripped from her body when she landed heavily on the ground. She watched unable to cry a warning as her mother attacked the small vampire girl, watched in horrified fascination as the girl turned her cheerful smile onto her mother and her mother went from an unstoppable and furious force to a thrashing and writhing blue-green form on the ground, those beautiful orange-red eyes closed in pain. The child stopped after a time, and turned her gaze back on Selenay and her siblings, and her jaw dropped when she saw Selenay had lifted her head and was watching her.

When the other vampires in the courtyard fell upon her mother and began tearing her limb from limb even while the beautiful and loving creature still lived and breathed and cried, Selenay felt rage well up from her as she stood up on shaky limbs and screamed her own cry of despair.

Where was Carlisle? Where was her father, Duarch Noomoack?

As she spotted an all too familiar red shape further outside of the courtyard, she had her answer; her father had not been able to escape Voltaire with Carlisle, and the vampires had met her father here, and murdered him before he had been able to shout the alarms.

The mind-numbing pain wrenched through her, but it paled in comparison to having witnessed the death of her mother, and spotting the body of her own father, along with countless other dragons and Alectors. Though the bodies of the Alectors had quickly turned to dust and faded away, leaving nothing but their Life-force imbued shimmersilk garments behind.

Selenay struggled to turn over her body, and crawl away from the girl and towards the safety of the water. She would be safe in the water. She heard the vampire soldiers moving towards her and her siblings, and she hissed blindly as she crawled away, trying to ward the vampires away from her helpless form. She heard her brother and sister's screams being cut short as they were butchered by the vampires, and it made her blood run cold.

Why? Why were we attacked? Why did the Volturi attack us like this? Destroy us, and kill us? Were they afraid? Afraid of what we could do?

Where they jealous? We could live, breathe, have families, and were still so long-lived as to be considered immortal… That could be cause to jealousy.

Thoughts like this coursed through her mind, she had reached the cliff edge, and she could hear the waves crashing against the sheer rock far down below. Footsteps were growing closer now, almost lazy as they moved with languid confidence.

_I'll show you confidence_. She thought savagely, _when I escape… if I escape… I will grow strong, and kill all of you! I vow this day, that someday I shall have my revenge, and none shall mourn your passing!_

With that last thought, she dropped over the edge of the cliff, and hit the water with a dull roar. With relief, she felt barely conscious as the water covered her form and brought her out of direct visible range of the vampire child up there. The magic-induced agony faded from her skin as if it never were, and Selenay swam further down under the surface and started swimming away from the coast and straight out to sea.

Her siblings had all died back there. She didn't know if there were any others. Still, she knew they searched the waters for her.

The small girl looked out at the vast ocean, where the beast had managed to escape her, and her eyes saw no sign of the small red demon. She snarled in frustration, knowing Aro would not be pleased with her failure. No matter, the creature was not meant to survive in the ocean, and would probably die from her wounds anyways. Or a shark would find her; the thought delighted her, to imagine that demon killed off by a mere fish! She giggled softly, but did not waver from her watch for the small red head. Eventually, a heavy hand lined with veins placed itself on her shoulder, and Jane was unsurprised to see Aro looking down at her, his expression unreadable.

"It escaped you, then?"

Her eyes darkened, and she looked down, shame would have colored her cheeks if she had any blood left in her body. She gave a small nod, remorse emanated from her entire being.

Aro sighed, "It cannot be helped. Worry not, little dove. She is dead out there anyways. Everyone knows a Sky-King cannot swim…"

They both turned away then and her twin shadowed her movement beside her, with the troop of vampires behind them, looking for the world like a daughter and son walking dutifully next to their grandfather, with her twin close beside her. They left the carnage of what they had wrought in flames behind them, removing all traces of the beasts that had once lived there in the mountainside.

~*S*~

Selenay spent her time at sea hunting the fish, and travelling west. It took many weeks, and her body healed quickly in the pure ocean waters, helped along by the small blue fish that so thoughtfully cleaned out her wounds as she swam along at a lazy pace near reefs she happened across as she travelled. She was not a full Sky-King; only half, she was also half Sea-Dragon, one of the more lithe and slender breeds whereas the Sky-Kings were the more larger and more regal-looking. But she swam the seas just as well, knowing that doing so would strengthen her tenfold what she was now. Someday, she thought, her size would match that of a small hill, but her burnished shiny red scales certainly made her look out of place in a set of hills. She was a dusty ruby red color, with a deep gold underbelly and the spitting image of her father, Duarch Noomoack.

Selenay felt herself the perfect blend of the species between her Sea-faring mother, and Sky-faring father. She had her father's large and expansive wings, long wedge shaped head, and her father's sharply-angled overlapping scales that could cut through many hard substances in the world, she could breathe fire like her father, as well. It made her a favorite among her siblings to have inherited his own particular trait rather than her mother's affinity for the rain. On the other hand, she had her mother's lithe and long body, the swan-like graceful neck, the sloping shoulders, and the fluted long ears and frills around her jaw, to counter her mother's ability to call the rain, she was able to summon a wind to change direction.

She had been traveling for two more days when a massive shadow she had been watching for the past ten minutes shifted as she had come closer to it. Curiosity got the better of her and she ducked her head under the water and nearly shrieked. Just five feet beneath the surface was a massive creature. She had happened to be staring at its tail end, hence why the shadow she had seen had not seemed to move as they seemed to be swimming the same direction. It had a massive horizontal tail-fin, and two fins coming out of the beast's sides. It was blue-black in color, with a white under-side.

As she watched, she saw a smaller version of the same creature swimming next to it, under its "wing" and Selenay realized it must be a mother and its baby. Alarm filled her; usually the mother creatures she knew of on land were extremely protective of their babies, and were known to be highly aggressive.

She swam closer to the creature anyways; it hadn't attacked her yet, and she had been unwittingly following it for several leagues now. It probably wasn't going to attack her yet. The closer she came to the creature, the more aware she was of how very little she actually was. This creature had to be about 20 meters in length, and was easily one hundred and thirty-six tons. Selenay herself was only a little bigger than a Clydesdale, a massive horse from Europe.

She slowly and cautiously swam closer, and drew level with one eye. As the large dark orb rolled over to look at her, a long keening song echoed through the water, and Selenay's eyes unfocused for a time to translate as her Sea-King blood kicked in.

"What are you doing here? Sky-Kings don't swim."

As the message sank in, Selenay answered in kind. "I am Selenay, daughter of Irenia."

"IRENIA? How is she?"

Selenay felt a great pain lance through her, "She is dead, attacked by vampires who turned hostile on us."

"And your father?"

"Also dead." She answered, full of bitterness

"My greatest sorrows…Selenay" The creature's eye stayed on her for a time, as if reading her feelings, and looking so anguished and sad.

For a time, Selenay just swam beside the great creature in silence as she fought to regain her own composure. Then she spoke up again.

"Excuse me, but what are you?"

"I am a whale… called Darlana, this is my calf Faola."

"A whale? You're very big, Darlana! Are you the only kind of whale?"

"No, little one, I am one of many kinds. I am a Bowhead Whale. We're very few, Selenay. Many fish, smaller than I am I be afraid, hunt and eat us. Especially my calf. Helpless."

Selenay frowned, she liked Darlana and Darlana knew her mother once. She looked down at the calf, and as if feeling her gaze, the baby whale hurriedly swam to hide behind his mother's fin. Selenay smiled, and came to a decision.

"I will protect you! I won't let any fish take your baby, Darlana!"

"Really? You are kind of small, for a dragon."

Selenay bristled, "I am young, I will grow and then I'll be bigger than you!"

Now the eyes were laughing at her, she was teasing her!

"Alright, alright. Why are you traveling this far out to see? And away from land, no less…"

"I am traveling to get away from the vampires, Father said that there was two separate landmasses on this planet, one smaller than the other. So he landed on the larger one. After much prying, Father learned that no one knew about the second landmass, so I am traveling to it. I think there won't be anyone there, and thus no vampires, so I'll be safe."

"How logical of you, then. I can take you close to it, I travel near to it on my way to the feeding grounds for the summer."

"So you could take me?"

"Yes, I could. It would be very easy to carry you."

"Carry me? What do you mean?"

"Carry you. Climb upon my back, mind the claws, and I keep you out of the water. Keep you dry, and you can sleep without fear."

"Oh, wow, that would be so nice for a change! I have been getting so tired because I could only nap for ten minutes at a time while I traveled before having to go back up for air. I am so lucky I found you, Darlana!"

Selenay swam close to the surface right next to Darlana, who submerged herself completely, the shifting water rushed Selenay directly over the large whale's back and then Selenay reached down and clutched Darlana's back as the great whale emerged from the water again. The water washing away from Darlana's back nearly swept Selenay back off into the water except for the claws she had firmly entrenched into Darlana's thick skin.

Selenay shook her head, and hastily unlatched herself from Darlana's back. It felt so good to be out of the water! She collapsed seconds later, and spread out her wings to dry, falling asleep within the space of her eyelids closing and her gusty sigh.

When Selenay woke up, the sky was dark and the water even darker. She shifted her wings and cried out in surprise and pain as her back had finally scabbed over from the wounds her mother had inflicted in order to open her wings.

Selenay gingerly folded her wings back and fell back asleep.

"Selenay! Wake up, we've got trouble coming!"

Selenay startled awake, and jumped up. Her head weaved from side to side as she tried to spot the danger.

"It's below us, two tiger-sharks."

"I'm on it." Was all Selenay replied with before she ran to the edge of Darlana's back and dived down into the dark water.

Underneath the surface, the sandy-brown and striped sharks were easy to spot. They abruptly went into hunter-formation as they appraised this strange red threat to their hunt.

Selenay growled, and spread her wings, appearing much bigger than she had before. The trick worked, the sharks scattered out of their hunter formation in surprise and targeted Selenay instead in curiosity. When one got too close Selenay showed her teeth, and the creature reflexively lashed out at her with lightning speed.

It caught Selenay on a foreleg, and tried to bite down through the scales. Selenay shook him off, and twisted her leg back to scratch him. The creature soundlessly flinched and moved away, three long gouges had appeared down its side, dangerously close to its gills.

As if impelled by a magnet, the other shark turned on its fellow and attacked it. Selenay watched, dumbfounded as the shark bit down and tore through the other shark's back, the other shark struggled briefly and then died as soundlessly as ever. When the shark was finished eating, it swam away back the way it had come. Selenay turned away, deeply disturbed by what had transpired.

"Darlana, why did the shark attack it's partner like that?"

"It was instinctive, as soon as it smells blood the beast will go into a feeding frenzy and devour whatever the blood came from."

"Kind of like vampires…"

"Yes, like vampires."

Selenay's lips curled in a silent snarl, "That makes the vampires little more than beasts then!"

"Some are. Some aren't."

Selenay was reminded again of Carlisle, and his kind smile and golden eyes, so reminiscent of a dragon's orangey-red to golden orbs. She wondered if he survived, or if he was still imprisoned in Voltaire. She hadn't seen him since she was young.

Days passed with Selenay guarding Darlana and Faola from sharks and other predatory sea-creatures. She battled them well, and with renewed strength as she was able to sleep out of the water whenever she was tired. As word passed among the lesser fish that the Bowhead Whale traveled with a dragon the dangerous fish, and the sea-wolves known as Orcas, soon avoided Darlana almost as soon as she was spotted.

She spotted land on the third week of travel; she roughly counted out the days by the edge of a scale she cut into with the tip of a claw. Now that her destination was in sight, she felt a new surge of hope fill her, and she surged upward into the air, and kicked with all her might with her hind legs, she threw her wings up into the skies, and gave a mighty heave.

She wheeled in the air as soon as she was stable, and turned back towards Darlana's vast form, seeing the vast size of the whale from the air was no less daunting than from the water. She hovered carefully in front of Darlana's massive head, a trick she had mastered while hunting fish from the air as she traveled with the great whale.

"Oh Darlana! Is that it?"

"Yes, child, this is where our paths fork. I need to continue on my way now, thank you for keeping me and my baby safe for as long as you did. You have a good heart, youngling."

"Thank you, Darlana! I couldn't have made it this far without you, thank you!" Selenay's eyes filled with tears at the warmth and love coming from the whale's eyes.

"No worries, child. Good bye now!"

"Good bye!"

With that, she wheeled back towards the shore and set her sights on a destination.

Her eyes shining, she gave mighty strokes and brushed the wind, demanding permission to ride upon it's back, and the wind gleefully picked her up, and Selenay gave a mighty roar in delight of her freedom, the cry echoed off the water and shot off in all directions, but was soon altered and lost by the wind, and people far away mistook it for just another wave crashing against the rocks.

She passed over the shores, and massive pines, and reveled in the openness of it all, she felt no presence of the dreaded Cold Ones here, and she felt great peace wash over her, and also profound exhaustion as her body finally realized it was no longer over the endless ocean and she no longer had to fight so hard just to make it as quickly as possible. Her weeks of travel finally caught up to her and now she was exhausted. She spotted an open field, and angled herself down for a landing, she suddenly realized that this one going to be a very rough landing, since this was the first time she had flown. She back-stroked, fighting to slow herself down, as she had seen her father do countless times, and managed an adequate, if clumsy, landing.

Dirt clods and chunks of grass flew as she skidded across the field a small ways before finally coming to a stop. She gave a sigh of relief, and flopped down where she landed. Not caring that she was in broad daylight, she hadn't spotted anyone around for miles while she was in the air. She settled down for a good sleep, and was soon lost to the world.

The next day she woke up alert and ravenously thirsty. She stretched her head up and sniffed out the nearest source of fresh water. Weeks of catching droplets of rainwater in her open mouth, and trying to filter out seawater into freshwater had kept her alive, along with her Sea-King blood, but what she craved right now was a lake, or a river. Something deep enough to submerge in, and drink as much fresh water as she could until she thought she might be sick.

There! Just to the south of her, she smelled fresh water, and lots of it! Delicious!

She scrambled to her feet and started dog-trotting through the underbrush, she hadn't used her legs to run in so long, it felt just amazing to simply run. Now she felt heavy again, as she had gotten used to being in the ocean for so long, and her legs were unaccustomed to the shift in weight. But it felt good! Her legs strode forward with poise and grace, and she was not concerned. Everything felt right!

Abruptly, she tore past the last few trees and was rewarded with a wide expanse of open grass before the rocky shore of a small lake. She crowed her delight and ran across the lawn, her ears pricked forwards as she dragon-dashed towards the water.

When she made it to the water, her nostrils flared in appreciation for the clarity and lovely green-blue tint of the water. She blinked, it reminded her of her mother, and she was faced again with the horrific image of her mother's body being torn apart before her very eyes.

She shook her head and waded into the lake. She buried her snout into the water and began guzzling with great concentration. The feel of the fresh cool water washing over her tongue and soaking her mouth and throat was like no other sensation she had experienced in a long time.

After she drank her fill, she waded in the rest of the way and washed her body and each individual scale clean of the salt that had slowly caked her scales. When she stepped out, she felt loads better, so much cleaner, and feeling so much more fresh!

She plopped onto the grass and laid out her wings to dry, there she dozed and basked in the sun until she was completely dry before getting up to hunt. This would be her first time hunting land animals!

She rose up into the skies, and weaved her head about, seeking out prey. She spotted a large deer grazing with a few other does. Perfect! She gave two more strong beats before launching herself at the grazing deer.

Abruptly, the deer looked up and scattered. Selenay growled in frustration as the does all bounded away before she was close enough to dive on them. She tracked down another doe, and tried again. There too she failed, and she snarled and tore down trees in her frustration and hunger.

Finally, on her last try, she made sure to come in downwind, with the sun hiding her passage. She landed on the deer, who at the last second looked up and blanched and tried to run. Selenay killed it swiftly and cut its' throat before tearing open the belly to feed.

Selenay devoured everything, even splitting the bones to get at the marrow inside. All that was left were the shattered remains of the bones, the skull, and the ears, Selenay having found them too tough to eat.

Licking her lips, Selenay spotted a human settlement through the trees, deciding this really was not the place to live, Selenay took to the skies, and winged her way further west.

She passed through a vast plains, full of massive slow-moving buffalo that were too stupid to run from her. She ate well and grew quickly, she found herself often rubbing against rocky outcroppings and scraping off old scales, their clattering and clacking to the ground was simply delightful to her ears, and the mixture of pain and relief she felt with scraping against the hard stone was also.

Eventually, she passed through a true desert, and she marked the locations of several places she might go into her Wei Sleep, large mesas where tunneling would be a simple matter.

Later that week, Selenay breathed her first true flame, and her fire-bladder became fully mature. At this time, she would have been eligible for marriage, though it probably would have been a very long engagement until Selenay grew to her full height. Many of the eligible males in the colony were much older, and would have be able to catch Selenay with barely any contest.

Though she was no longer a small dragon, in the weeks after opening her wings her body had nearly tripled in weight and wingspan, she was slightly more lithe than a fully-blooded Sky-King.

When she reached the western coast, she turned north. Where the weather would be colder, and the days cloudier. She didn't like the heat so much; though it was comfortable at times, there was a such thing as too much.

Days later, she reached a pine forest far below, a strange scent in her nose had been bugging at her for quite a time. Kind of like wolf, but different. She couldn't place it. After settling in a clearing, she curled up for the night and fell asleep. Feeling confident that anything that arrived would surely not know what to do with her.

She awoke in the darkness, smelling and sensing another's presence. As she shifted slightly, betraying her alertness, deep growling issued, and Selenay opened her eyes slowly to see a large wolf crouched in front of her, his savage eyes held an intelligence she had not expected. She blinked and lifted her head slowly, hoping not to alarm him more than her presence already had. She heard deeper growling, and saw three other wolves standing to either side of their leader.

She regarded them carefully; she was a stranger to this land, and knew not the rules for engagement. They all had that look of intelligence, and it made her slightly nervous, their eyes were watching her apprehensively, much as she now watched them and she was aware of the control they had, these weren't normal wolves. That much was obvious, these things were the size of a large horse, for one, and the fire that blazed in their eyes was not that of a crazed werewolf, it was intelligence. Tentatively, she pushed her mind against the lead wolf, attempting to communicate her intentions of good will, and harmlessness.

What she did not expect was the hive like mind she brushed against. Their voices were all one, and at the same time, they were all different. Their minds were all linked by thought and they communicated like that to each other with flawless perfection. Not werewolves indeed. Feeling slightly excited, she pushed against their minds again, and then spoke carefully.

"_Greetings, good wolves."_ She began, and the hive mind reacted like a bunch of angry bees, and began to speak all at once, panic and surprise evident in their thoughts and on their canine faces.

"_It can hear us! Black, what are we to do?" –"It speaks!" –"It's dangerous, we should drive it away! If it can hear our thoughts it can…oh. Shit!" –"Stop, all of you. BE SILENT. I shall decide what to do with it. It possesses intelligence enough to speak like we do, it has not harmed us. We shall hear this creature's explanation for itself."_

Selenay shook her head at the blurring thought-words these wolves shared, and jumped slightly when she heard them suggest they drive her away. However, she nearly gave a sigh of relief when she heard the cold and steady voice of the Alpha wolf override the others. Even she felt a slight compulsion to obey and be silent, but not as strong as the other wolves, who lowered themselves to their bellies in submission to their leader and whined softly.

She raised her head, and looked at the Alpha and he dipped his head cautiously to her, inviting her to continue. She was assuming that this was Black they had mentioned, but he was not a black wolf. He was a deep brown, with a lighter red belly, and amber eyes.

"_Greetings, good wolves."_ She said again, the wolves dipped their heads slightly, acknowledging the greeting, this was strange to her; her people sensibly opened and closed their nostrils when they were affirming or refuting anything. She drove on past that painful reminder and continued, "_I am a stranger to this land, I came from across the ocean and have traveled far in my escape from my pursuers. I seek no quarrel with you, and indeed, I seek to pass through here as quickly as I can in order to find a place more suitable for myself. I flee from the monsters known as the Cold Ones, and my kind have long fought beside them. However, they have turned on us, and my family was butchered in their cave, I myself barely escaped with my life. I seek a new beginning."_

As she spoke, she sent them images of the Cold Ones, and the carnage they wrought on her ancestral lands. Even as it pained her, her mind conjured up her father, his body rent by those cruel, unfeeling hands. His proud face disfigured by the claws marks through his temple, and the wolves growled at this atrocity. When she replayed the scene of herself escaping from the young vampire child, their eyes widened in terror as her own fear of the Cold Ones leaked across the connection. They backed away from the red dragon, then. Their eyes filled with understanding, and sorrow. They knew of these creatures, and hunted them, also.

"_What shall we call you? For we have never seen your kind before." _

"_I am Selenay, seventh daughter of Duarch Noomoack, the wisest dragon that ever lived. I am of the Sky-King tribe, masters of the skies."_

"_Welcome then, Selenay, to our land. For the enemy of my enemy is my friend."_

Selenay was welcomed into the tribe of wolves, her polite nature was akin to that of the wolves, and they saw her as a strange lost and scaly cousin. She took to them immediately, their body temperatures were very high, like that of a dragon's, though their hive mind took some getting used to. She was as fascinated by them as they were of her. They led her to their tribe, and families, and she was surprised they had human forms, as well.

As she struggled with her own transformations, they laughingly coaxed her along, but she never managed to transform into her own humanoid form, though it was grueling practice trying. The women marveled at her red and gold scales, and she did not glitter in the sunlight like the Cold Ones, which appeased everyone, but glowed as if a great fire raged within her. A healthy radiance that was, itself, breath-taking. But despite her obvious differences, she was accepted by the Quileute tribe.

She stayed with them for a number of years, and they were unfazed by the fact that she didn't seem to age. She learned about all the wild plants and which ones were safe to eat, and others that were good at healing wounds, in turn, she taught them about expanding their will into spears of thought to direct them towards another mind, like what she had done to contact them in the first place.

Life was good for her, the Quileutes were her allies and they welcomed the red dragon among them with love and adoration. She grew into a large dragon, feeding on the kills she shared with the wolves during her hunts, and a strong flier able to withstand even the most brutal storms tossed her way. The wild weather patterns of this land shaped her into an instrument of destruction.

She spent quite a bit of time playing with the wolves, sparing with them and teaching the wolves to fight and lunge with a dragon-like intensity against the vampires. One particularly intense fight left the wolves wounded and cut, and Selenay worked with a guilty conscience to help ease their pain as she worriedly lapped at their wounds. As her saliva mixed with theirs, the wounds were able to close up and heal. Mystified, the wolves all clamored to have her heal them, too. And soon all of their wounds were healing flawlessly.

Mystified, Selenay decided that the ability was in her blood and so with the help of one of the wives she made a good-sized cut in one claw and began squeezing the blood into a bowl Selenay had that same wife prepare. She convinced a wolf to drink the blood, and he reluctantly gave it a few laps. He fell asleep almost immediately afterwards, and when he woke up again he was feeling younger and happier and moved more vigorously and more quickly than before.

But best of all, they healed quickly. Selenay soon had all of the wolves drinking her blood, after she had a rest and a chance to recover from blood-loss.

It was when she reached her 100th birthday, and had grown into a powerful adversary, the wolves of the pack had increased in size by one-fourth; they were sleeker and faster than before. No longer were they the lumbering large beasts that Selenay had met before. Weeks after celebrating her birthday, a coven of Cold Ones arrived.

They came with the dawn, and Selenay shivered. She wasn't cold, however, and realization struck her as she heard the strange beings stepping through the forest to the edge of her village. The village elders all rose up, growling, and their sons stood and shifted into the mighty wolves before words had been spoken. The vampires walked slowly towards the group, their arms spread wide as if in truce, and their eyes glued towards the ground. Selenay stood near her adoptive father, Chief Black, and she nervously blew out hot breath in the foggy cool air.

The lead vampire spoke up first, his gaze drifting over all of the waiting and irate villagers and settling on Selenay with avid curiosity, it was obvious to everyone she was not of the tribe, with her being a dragon among wolves and all. The vampire suddenly froze, and his eyes widened in shock, and recognition? Selenay was confused, he looked familiar, but her memories before the…incident were rather fuzzy… she felt like she should know him. Had she met him before? How odd…

Selenay almost cursed; all of the vampires were gazing on her now, of course they would notice her! She stood out like a sore thumb among these russet skinned natives!

"We are but humble travelers, seeking peace between my family," he gestured toward his two companions behind him, who bowed their heads slowly, "and your kind. We mean you no harm."

Chief Black stepped forward, his scowl evident to Selenay from where she stood off to his side. "How are you any different than the other blood-drinkers you resemble. You're all as bad as the rest of them!"

"No! Please listen, humans are in no danger from us, we abhor the need of our bodies to sup on the flesh and blood of innocent humans, and we have found a better way, a way that is not harmful to humankind. We feed on the blood of animals, and we would wish to pledge our good will to you, if you will let us live here in peace, we shall not bite a human."

The brothers and sisters of the Quileute tribe whispered harshly among themselves, all of them concerned at the Cold One's words. Selenay could not believe what she was hearing, it sounded so impossible; the Cold Ones she knew reveled in the bloodshed of humans. They were malicious, and unrepentant of their natures, believing that it was right to feed on humans as the natural order of things, that was the way of the Volturi.

Her eyes flashed up again towards the vampire standing there, his arms held out beseechingly.

She formed a spear of thought and jabbed it savagely at the blond man before her, she faintly heard him gasp in sudden agony, but she no longer cared. She was inside his mind now, sifting through his thoughts and… She pulled up and out sharply. Stunned at what she found in his head, she withdrew completely, and returned to her own body. She sat down hard on the grassy ground, and released her held breath in awe.

Everyone glanced down at her, wondering what had just occurred. The wolves got the impression of what had happened, and were now eager to hear what she had learned to make her react that way. Were his thoughts so evil?

He had never bitten a single human, and the compassion this man had for all living beings stretched out even to her on the grass, who had invaded his thoughts only moments ago so savagely. All at once she felt a terrible feeling of sorrow rise up inside of her. This man had done her no harm; he was not of the same Cold Ones who had delivered such wanton destruction on her home.

And she knew this man, it had been more than fifty years since she had seen him, but she most definitely knew him. She felt so suddenly happy that he had escaped, that he was still in existence and looking so well fed, and his eyes were those burnished gold she remembered. Speaking of which, so were the eyes of the other two behind him.

Carlisle.

She slowly raised her head towards the man, Carlisle, and stood up carefully. She stepped toward him, and placed her nose reluctantly on his shoulder, ignoring the hisses and growls emanating from both sides. She knew no harm could come to her from him, or from his company. She regarded the expression in his eyes, and knew that he recognized her for who she was. Understanding lit up his expression.

"You are…Selenay …but how is that possible? Aro had killed the last one twenty-two years ago…" Carlisle faltered, and his hand reached up, and tentatively brushed his hand on her cheek, just like he used to do. "I never knew, I fought so hard, and never knew…I thought I had failed. My lady, how can you ever forgive one such as I? You are his daughter, correct?"

Selenay nodded her head slowly, the concept that a vampire, even one, had remained loyal to her father was astonishing. But she knew it for truth; she had seen it in his thoughts.

"You must promise me you will speak of my existence to no one. Absolutely no one. My continued survival depends on it." She pleaded softly, with that, she turned her back on him, and strode towards Chief Black.

"Father, you can trust these. I know them well, and my father knew Sir Carlisle well. I have examined his mind, and I have found his words to be true. I think you should accept his offer of peace. I would not like to see you tear each other apart in a bitter battle to the death."

Chief Black's eyes narrowed and his heart felt heavy with emotion. "Alright, my daughter. I shall give them a chance."

Selenay beamed at her adoptive father and looked back at Carlisle with merry eyes. "Come, we have much to discuss."

Carlisle walked forward and placed his hand on Selenay's shoulder, she butted him with her head and he obliged by vaulting up onto her back. Together, they turned toward the skies and Selenay took to the air, Carlisle crouched on her back and clinging tightly to her neck spikes.

He whooped for joy, and laughed as Selenay and he corkscrewed through the air. She gave a savage roar and went into a slow back flip, she flipped once and pointed her nose to the earth. They free-fell and Selenay released another savage growl before leveling out and snapping open her wings, halting their downward fall, and knocking Carlisle out of his seat on her back to go sliding down towards her tail.

Her eyes widened in alarm, she didn't mean to throw him! She lashed her tail up, and tossed him back towards her neck. It worked; he was flung forward and landed back in his seat on her back. He clung more tightly to her then and yelled in her ear,

"Be careful, Selenay! I'm not glued here, and I don't have any saddle, remember?"

_Sorry, Carlisle! This is just the flight we would have had had we bonded together._

She said into his mind, and his arms tightened around her neck in understanding. She had loved him, adored the vampire, and had followed him through the passageways for days while he went about his various tasks as he studied more forms of medicine and surgery.

After a time, they returned to earth and Carlisle immediately had to change his pants as his had been torn to shreds by Selenay's scales. He made quite a sight, and his fellow vampires laughed at him until Selenay game them a healthy glare, allowing a tendril of flame to slip out of her mouth like a bright tongue.

They were up late talking, Selenay had young wolf children sleeping peacefully in the coils of her tail and folded in her wings. Carlisle was laying in her lap, scratching Selenay's ridges above her eyes as she purred in contentment.

"Selenay…would it still be possible to enact the bond? Could I still become your rider in truth?"

Selenay was silent for a time, her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping.

"I don't know, right now I know I can't. I need to enter my Wei Sleep for awhile, to do that, I need to find a safe place to sleep. I'll try to learn if I can still enact the bond there. If I can, I'll recover the other information pertinent to you becoming my rider, as well. If it works, you may be… Different."

"I see, don't worry too much, if we can't then we can't. I will be content with being as I am… I just never wanted to be a vampire, if I could have had myself any other way, I would have wished to be something else." He sounded downcast. It was well-known to Selenay how Carlisle had had such self loathing for so long after he had been changed. Her father had known it too, which had been why he had welcomed the brilliant and compassionate vampire into his Aerie, Lyterna.

"I will try, Carlisle! I promise you this!"

"Thank you, Selenay. Just hearing that you would try means a lot to me. If it could happen, I would adore you for as long as I lived, and I would never leave you alone again." Carlisle said fervently. They settled down to sleep then, at least Selenay did. Carlisle merely wrapped his arms around Selenay's neck and let his thoughts drift until day break.

That morning, Selenay announced her intentions to Chief Black. "I need to leave, Black, there are things I must do as a dragon that I am long overdue for. I bid you all a very fond farewell, and I hope to come back someday to see how you are doing. Good bye everyone!"

Selenay gave a special hug to Carlisle, and fondly licked him on the face. Her tongue rasped across his skin like steel scraping steel, and Carlisle giggled at the sensation, clutching his face after her draconic kiss.

Chief Black was sad, and he hugged the massive red dragon closely, "Be good, Black and be brave. Don't fear to love, because it will make you strong." She didn't lick him; if she tried, it would rip the skin right off his bones in his current shape.

Black just smiled up at her.

The light of his people was leaving them. But he knew she would not stay forever, "be all as it may, daughter. I shall heed your words, you are a wise dragon. I wish I could have known your father, all that you told me of him made my wild heart sing. Live freely, Selenay."

"Love well, Black." Selenay whispered under her breath, knowing he would hear her. She turned away then, and strode away from the gathering of wolves and vampires.

With her scales glittering in the morning sun, she again turned her head toward the skies. Her wide frilled ears were angled elegantly away from her skull, and the spines that grew from her back shined pearly white, and dazzled softly. Her wings were folded up, and when she opened them, they were a deep yellowy-red. The thin hollow bones that framed the six fingered wings were outlined in deep russet red, like maple leaves in the fall. Like Fire.

Carlisle had a small memory well up in his mind of a small little hatchling, still wet from the egg, growling in mock battle as she played with his fingers, and he couldn't help but smile gently. Her large amber eyes had shined so much like his own, and her lithe lizard-like body burned in his hand with the heat of the fire growing inside her.

Her wings had yet to grow from her back. He had been anxious of the day her back would swell up with twin hard sacs, and then the wings break free from her back with the help of a parent or good friend. All that was need was a set of good sharp teeth. It was a rare ritual between vampires and dragons to join in eternal companionship by the opening of a dragon's wings, but the dragon naturally had to choose the vampire. He was the one who had been meant to open her to the skies, and be her friend. She had chose him. He felt warm with the thought.

But that had been the day Aro and his troop had come. Aro had been enraged that Duarch Noomoack had not given him the honor, and decided that if Princess Selenay would not receive his fangs, then she and all her family would pay with never embracing the skies again.

With the approaching enemy, Selenay and her mother had been desperate to find a way of escaping, of being able to escape. Selenay's mother had torn open her wings herself, and then had fairly thrown Selenay into the air, followed closely by her brothers and sisters.

Carlisle pushed the memory from his mind, finding it too raw and painful to remember. Now, he embraced the glorious scene as it played out in front of them all as Selenay, beautiful Selenay, gracefully arched her neck and surged up into the air. She was the embodiment of fire, and grace.

With one last glorious roar of triumph, Selenay turned westward, and disappeared from sight. That was the last anyone had seen of the glorious Sky-King, who from up high in the skies, many humans had thought in awe that they witnessed the legendary fire-bird arcing across the skies into the unknown.

~*Present Time—Estimation Three Years After the Incident in Arizona*~

Selenay sighed, and decided that the time had come, she was bound to be discovered soon, anyways. There were more vampires in this land, and some would still be old enough to recognize the burning sensation under their feet as an indication there was a dragon beneath them. She twisted, and turned carefully in the cave, and slowly began digging her way up and out of her den. It was time to take a visit to her old Wolves.

Okay! So you guys probably saw the mishap earlier. I've replaced the chapter, so you won't see that, (obviously). I am terribly sorry, I had forgotten about that particular incident, and forgot o delete it off. Whatever, it's no longer a problem, now. I'll be more careful with what I'm loading onto the Doc-Manager in future. Enjoy, and please review. I like to hear what you have to saw, any problems you saw in grammar or in syntax. Any ways I can improve my work as I progress through the story.


	2. Family Reunion

Chapter II Family Reunion

Laboriously, she climbed out into the fresh cool air of the desert night. The skies were clear, with not a cloud to mar the night. Stars shined brightly, lighting up the night as well as any moon did. Selenay's eyes reflected the stars in the sky with a dazzling effect, her maroon eyes created a warm and vivid background for the light's presence.

In her hundred-year hibernation, she had done mild growing. And the ground where she slept had become a thick veined cave of pure gold. She never could understand the fascination humans had for the stuff. It was a weak metal, bent too easily, and certainly didn't make a good sword.

Any pebbles or rock in her Wei den over time changed into gold because of the Dream World dragons slipped into when they fell into that kind of sleep. She stretched, and flexed her limbs in practice. She needed to prepare herself for the long flight ahead of her; she needed to make it in one shot, one long night, if she were to avoid detection by humans, or Cold Ones.

Her wings stretched out into a wing span of twenty-seven feet now, meaning her body-weight had raised by a scale of three-fourths her original weight. She flicked her ears out in all directions. Checking wind direction, and for the presence of others before she stepped out of the cover of the mesa she had hidden self under.

After she was certain the coast of clear, she stepped out of her hiding place and unfurled her wings, there was a light cracking sound as the wind caught at them, and eagerly tugged at her.

But she paused, using her tail deftly; she cut out rock from the surrounding area to cover her exit, the rock making a high-pitched whistle as her sharp diamond hard scales cut through the rock. She turned to examine her handiwork.

The wall of the mesa looked rough, like something very strong had been sawing around it with no avail. She hissed softly, that wouldn't do at all. She stepped close to it, and began licking the rock. The massive heat from her fires within her caused her tongue to soften and smooth the rock. She carefully ran her tongue over every inch of the wall, making it appear quite solid. She stepped back and was pleased that the wall now looked like any other part of the mesa.

Now she turned, and examined the skies. Her stretching had done wonders for her body, and her muscles were slightly hot, but not ready to cramp on her, ready for more work. She pawed the ground in anticipation, and with an anxious snort, she dashed forward. After three strides, she rose up on her hind feet leaped forward, landing stiffly on her forelegs. Then she rebounded off her forelegs, and kicked the ground hard with her hind legs, surged up into the air.

She lifted her wings up and pushed them down with all her might. Fighting for more altitude, the wind-sprites were more than ready to grant her this request, and they picked her up by the wing tips, laughingly tossing her higher, she laughed with them. Rejoicing in her reunion with the skies, she twirled and cork-screwed through the air, she couldn't help her antics, she had been sleeping for a century; of course she would delight in the skies!

After awhile, she was reminded of her task, and she focused herself in the air. She stretched out her mind and saw in her inner eye, the wind's spell. She needed to get to her destination faster, so she needed to change the wind's direction to face North-West. She closed her eyes, and growled in concentration. With a careful measure of her power, she _pushed_ the wind, and straightened her course North-West. When the wind took to her power, and allowed her to take hold easily, she nearly sighed in relief. She was afraid that with the long absence of a dragon to guide it that the wind would be rebellious. Apparently, this was not the case, and the wind longed for a master.

Now, she opened her eyes, and coasted with the wind. She adjusted her wings minutely, and the sprites whispered along beside her, sighing and singing in their soft eerie voices. Hours passed, and she sailed over strange lighted areas, cities of humans, the sprites told her. They had grown over the years. Making their many gadgets, and rejoicing in their intelligence over things. Selenay smiled a long wolfish smile. They were so clever, and still so dangerous.

There was a moment of terror when she narrowly avoided crashing into a large metal bird, at first she had a wild thought that perhaps she had spied another dragon. But when she reached her mind out, met only a cold and machine like intelligence. And then she felt the dozens of humans within the creature. But their thoughts were not alarmed or scared as they waited within this bird. Disturbed, she quickly flew on. Hoping they didn't spy her as she flew beneath them.

Finally, near day-break, she spotted the coast. She nearly whooped for joy, but for the sudden gripping cold she felt as she passed over a large white house in the middle of the forest. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight vampires! She faltered in the air, and nearly crumpled to the earth where she was until she was reminded of Carlisle and his coven. Apparently, his family had grown. She wasn't sure if she was pleased or not. Were these new members of his family going to keep to his ideals, or did these vampires originate from the Volturi's ideals?

She continued on to the coast, and was heart-warmed to see the wolves still strong in her old lands. She was surprised at how the land had changed so much. Most of the forest was still there, but in some places, old creeks had changed course, and some of her favorite trees had crumpled long ago, replaced by small saplings still struggling to live up to the legacy of the tree before them.

She settled into a clearing not far from the reservation's village. There she quickly stretched out her mind, and attempted to touch upon the familiar hive-mind of her tribe of wolves. The response was immediate. The moment she touched the hive-mind of the wolves, all of them reeled back in astonishment.

She reeled back, too. None of her wolves were still alive. She almost cried out in sorrow for her lost familiar wolves. These voices were all different, and most were cold. She spoke quickly to them, and firmly. Not allowing herself to be bullied by these big pumped up pups.

"_Í want to speak to your Elders, where is Chief Black? I have important matters to speak of with him. I am the Daughter of the Wolves, the Light of your Tribe. I demand you speak to me with the respect and dignity I deserve!"_

There was a murmuring, and she felt one of the wolves leave the hive-mind. Then, she saw through their eyes, an elderly man standing talking in low but excited tones with a tall russet boy with nothing but shorts on, obviously one of the wolves had shifted back and was reporting to the elder. A second wolf was off to the side catching all that was said for a more immediate response of what to do. Then the Elder turned suddenly to the wolf,

"Allow her to come, Selenay, if this is true and you have returned then come forward, the Tribe has long missed your presence here, little fire-flower. I am elder Uley, successor of Chief Black. Billy Black is alive now, I am sure he would most like to meet you, the stories his great-grandfather told him still abound in his memory. Come to us."

With that, Selenay sent information on exactly where she was to the wolves, and they assented they would be there soon. By the time they arrived, she was standing in the center of the clearing; her eyes had a calm look about them, their muddy-red radiance were serene and peaceful. She gazed upon the wolves as they stepped cautiously out of the brush, they were as big as she remembered their forebears were, but different. They were sleeker looking, with shorter hair, and a more angled and graceful appearance.

There was a large gray wolf, and two muddy brown ones, and a large russet wolf also arrived sometime after the others, from a different direction. This one turned towards the other wolves and nodded to them stiffly before turning towards Selenay herself. He was larger than all the others except the gray one. They were equal in size, and Selenay's eyes widened as she realized that there were two Alpha wolves. She didn't think it possible for there to be two Alphas. She smiled at them, and they wagged their tails at her, obviously, now that they saw her, memories were beginning to rise up from their bond as wolves of just who and what she was.

"Two Alphas? I didn't think it was possible. You'll have to tell me sometime, lead on, fellows. Don't bother to shift; I hear your thoughts as easily in this shape as it is my natural one. I want to see how my tribe has been doing since I left." The wolves turned, and Selenay followed them, she trotted easily; keeping up with their ground eating lope with barely any effort at all. After awhile, she realized she couldn't hear the big russet wolf very well, so she tuned out the others momentarily, and eased into his frequency. He was startled to hear her in his mind, and twitched when she spoke. _"Hello, red. Mind if I ask why I can't hear you in the other pack?"_ She already knew the answer, she just wanted clarification as to how it was possible.

_I'm not red, I am Jacob. Jacob Black. You can't hear me in the other pack because that isn't my pack, not anymore. I have my own pack, now…" _as he said this, Selenay caught images in his mind of Carlisle, and a woman called Esme, then it zipped immediately to a pretty girl named Bella, and Edward, though the feeling of slight edginess rubbed across the connection, then his mind drifted to a young girl, with pale skin that coruscated subtly and large brown eyes, her hair was a long, and curly bronze color. And as his mind centered on her, it focused, and Selenay realized that this girl was a young girl he had imprinted on. _Renesme._ The wolf's entire being shivered with delight in that child's existence.

Selenay gasped, this child was part vampire. The pale cold touch, the ever-so-slight shine of her skin like polished diamonds; there was no way she was full-blooded, no vampire had brown eyes. Selenay wondered how it was possible. She didn't realize she had blurted this question so loudly in her mind, because Jacob answered her.

"_Her mother, Bella, was human when she married Edward, her vampire husband. They…were very lucky Edward had such control of himself, but none of them expected Bella could conceive from Edward's seed. It was very dangerous; Bella nearly died giving birth, and would have if Edward hadn't changed her just after they got Renesme out…" _She felt Jacob pause. _"Bella was very nearly lost to us forever. She is well loved by the wolves, and that vampire family, the Cullens. But that event gave me Renesme, she is my everything, my light, and my sun! She completes me like no other, now the golden-eyed vampire family is close to our packs, especially mine. We have an alliance with them, and we're closer than ever because of my imprinting on Edward's daughter."_

This explanation cleared up much in Selenay's mind of the happenings around here, she was glad the alliance between Carlisle and the Quileutes was still strong, and even stronger than before now, she definitely saw the good in this bond. She just had to meet these vampires who were so fondly remembered by these wolves. No longer did she feel afraid of the Cold Ones so close to her old territory.

Abruptly, she was jolted out of her thoughts as they left the trees all together, and entered into the old village proper, where the great stone fireplace still stood as the gathering place for the tribe. She smiled as she remembered helping to put the fireplace together, so long ago, having used the techniques of her dragon self to shape the stones just right, and lick them all in place. No mortar had been needed when her tongue was so useful.

Not only could she mold the stones around like clay in her claws, but she could seal the stones together seamlessly with a few licks of her tongue. Now, the fireplace was a sight to behold, all kinds of regular stone had been placed together, melded, and pressed. The various shades of gray, brown, red, and black, all swirled together, and are an archeological mystery even today for Caucasian society, except for the Quileutes. But they guarded their secret of their dragon's existence even from some of their children, they told only the wolf cubs of this great secret, and forced them to swear on their lives to never tell another living soul.

The elders were all assembled, and they sat on the stone benches, their eyes watching her every move. They were fascinated by this creature of their most cherished bed-time stories, her red scales shifted and glinted in the sunlight as she moved with a life of its own.

Some of the elder's wives gasped as the sight of her, and they smiled among themselves. Along with her abilities in mind-probing, she had been a wonderful mid-wife. The warmth of her body had been a great substitute to laying the child near the fire, where with a careless clumsy turn; a child could fall into the pit. Because Selenay had in the past slept so still, children would come and snuggle into her sides, and drape themselves over her tail, with nothing but a small blanket.

Her love for children was famous, and the nightmares of her past had been squashed by the delight of the children's laughter as she swung them gently by her tail. Her frolicking with the wolves and the acceptance by the Quileutes was what she needed, and this creature was welcome to their village.

Now she stood before them, her eyes gazing over them all, never still, and finally coming to rest on old Billy Black. The resemblance to her old Chief Black was uncanny, right down to the eyes and the set of the ears, even the lips, and the nose. It was all there; she nearly flinched and stopped herself from embracing him. Instead, she smiled softly, and gently placed her head on his knees, "What to call you, then. My dear Black, your great-grandfather was like a father to me. It pained me greatly to leave, but there were things I needed to sort out for myself. I was long overdue for a rest…" She stopped then, and turned to the rest of the Elders, remembering her manners. She dipped her head, and met the gaze of the current Chief, Uley she remembered.

"As you can see, I stand before you now, the long-lost daughter of the Wolves. I have found my rest, and have awakened. The time now has come for a great change. You know of the red-eyed Cold Ones, the Volturi. My past with them is thick, and dark. So is my future. I would not wish you to be caught up in the crossfire of it, but I need information. Do you know where I can get it?"

Chief Uley tilted his head, and he ran his fingers over his chin.

"My daughter, we would not wish you to face death alone. We are your family. But I understand this is no light matter. Any who wish to go with you, may do so. But only of their free will. As for information about the Volturi, you would have better luck asking the Cullens. Welcome home, daughter. We have missed you."

Selenay's eyes flickered over to Jacob, asking the silent question. He nodded; he would join her to meet with the Cullens on his next visit.

"Thank you, elders. Thank you, Chief Uley, for your audience. I am glad to be home again." With that, she flashed them a brilliant smile, and turned to the fireplace. "There should be a fire tonight. I will prepare it soon, and bring down elk for us to dine on." Selenay loped over to the store of driftwood and began scooping up an armful of the wood to carry it over. Big russet hands entered her periphery and heaved up a large log effortlessly; she looked up to see one of the boys who had escorted her, his mind sounded familiar.

"Hello, I'm Embry. I wanted to give you a hand with the fire, if you wanted. My manners wouldn't let me watch you do that without any assistance."

Selenay smiled at him, "Thank you, Embry. That is kind of you. I would love your assistance. We'll need plenty of wood for this fire. Later, I hope you'll show me where the hunting's good. I need a good elk, or three."

His teeth were bright, and his smile was genuine. "Of course! I want to see how you hunt, it must be amazing, and I've never seen your kind before. I heard you can fly, what must that be like? To feel the wind picking you up, it's so exciting to think about."

Selenay smiled back, "It's the most glorious experience in your life. There's nothing better, in my opinion, than to feel the wind whistling in your ears, to be held up by nothing but the strength of your own wings. It's a glorious freedom."

Embry sighed, his eyes glazed over in excitement as he imagined it. They set the wood aside, and Selenay began to prepare the pit, scooping aside ash with her huge claws, and layering the wood carefully. She stuffed birch bark in all the right places with practiced ease. Then, with that done, she stood up, clacking her claws on the stone to clear the ash from under her claws. Embry crouched, getting ready to light it up, but Selenay stopped him, shaking her head. "We need to catch our dinner first. I'll need you in wolf form to spy them out; I'll swoop in from above."

"Right-o! Let's go, some of the other boys wanna join the hunt, too. Even Jacob, he's practically whining to see you hunt with us." Selenay smiled, she knew well the impetuousness of her presence on these wolves.


	3. The Hunt

I do not own Twilight. However, the Dragons here belong to me.

Chapter III: The Hunt

Wind whistled past her ears as Selenay spied the wolves loping in a zigzag pattern through the mountain passes. She found herself eyeing them with scientific interest; the wolves had grown sleeker and longer than the wolves from her past. Not to mention they now ran even faster than before, their movements smooth and compact.

Back then, they had been massive lumbering beasts, mostly brawn, now it seems in the long absence of large-scale fights, they had grown faster, slimmer, and lighter; perfecting their speed, and agility to an art form. She watched them appreciatively, dragons enjoyed sights of beauty, and there was certain majesty with their gait that made her regard them differently. Now, as she saw them, she noticed their ears had grown larger than their predecessors and their tails just a bit longer, as well. Again she wondered at their lack of females among the wolves. Why no female wolves? Perhaps their genes had not allowed themselves to bend for females yet.

She angled her wings, and dipped to the left, just as the wolves suddenly dropped in speed, and began a careful trot as they neared a valley higher in the mountains. She caught their mind speech now, as if from far away, "Up ahead, Selenay-sister. We smell a heard of elk here, perhaps a moose, too. Very tasty."

Their hunting plan was simple, the wolves would flush the game out into the open, and Selenay would swoop down on them, and take down as many as she could in one fell swoop. The wolves spread out, stalking through the trees and brush now. Selenay, back-winged and slowed from her swift cruise through the air, then began to circle the valley, waiting for the trap to be sprung. She watched with baited breath as she caught her first glimpse of the elk grazing. They had grown in the summer lush grasses, and were very fat. Their massive antlers were wide-spread, and glinted in the sunlight, a testament to their sharp edges.

She was careful not to be seen by them, and rose up into the sun. So that any creature looking up would not see her hiding in the glare of the sun, with a muffled mind shout, the wolves surged forward. Selenay, taking her cue, flipped over backwards and fell head first towards the valley; she heard the clamors over her fall from the wolves as she targeted the herd of rapidly panicking elk fleeing their obvious enemy, the wolves.

They were not expecting the great red fury from above. Selenay checked her speed, and pulled out of her dive, back-winging, and sending most of the gusts straight into the faces of the elk, throwing dust and strong winds their way, and bowling over some of the lighter weights.

Selenay thumped her tail on the ground, followed by her hind legs, and then lunging forward on her forelegs, her forelimbs dropped on the closest elk that fell, the air was filled with the bellows of the elk, and Selenay swiftly brought her claws down, and slashed open their necks. Knowing that wouldn't be enough to feed her family and herself; her lashed her head around, catching some of the fleeing elk by their legs, and snapping them brutally. Three more elk fell this way, and Selenay considered that enough for now. It would feed her for three days, at least.

She stepped over her first kills, and finished off the three final elk, and the air was eerily silent, blood still dripped from her muzzle, and stained her talons. She looked up and regarded her brother-wolves. Two of them had landed their own elk, and were busily lapping at the blood still dripping from freshly torn throats. She nodded her head matter-of-factly.

"_Good work, lads, let's get these home for dinner. All shall feast on the belly meat tonight."_ She said, the wolves howled, and yipped with her praise. And many of them were regarding her openly with brazen wonder of her scales, and wings, and size. Maybe even a little lust? She shook her head at the thought, and turned to the carcasses. She finished severing the neck-arteries, and picked up the elk by its hind legs with the tip of her tail.

"_I need a length of rope, please."_ She said, softly.

One of the wolves moved forward, and leaped up to her shoulder, his paws scrambling for purchase on her slick scales, Selenay grunted at the impact, but braced herself for his weight. The wolf nosed around her neck spikes, and finally detached a length of cord from its place on her spikes where they had wound the strips earlier for just this purpose. He jumped down, and shifted into a human right in front of her, not bothering to cover up. She was a dragon, not human. Why would she care if her brother was dressed or not?

He tied the cord around the elk's hind hooves, and then Selenay nodded her thanks, and hooked the elk on a nearby branch. Afterwards, the other wolves followed the first wolves' example, and leaped upon her back to retrieve bits of cord for the other seven elk they had taken down. Selenay expertly lifted her talon to the elk's vent and dragged downward, blood streamed down seconds after her claw vacated the area, and the skin peeled away and the body opened up in front of her. Organs spilled out, and splattered to the ground, and Selenay's nostrils flared as she breathed in the fresh blood tantalizing her nostrils.

She closed her eyes for a moment, the heady feeling threatening to overtake her, force her into a feeding frenzy, and defend her kill from the others. Her mind cleared after a moment, and she opened her eyes to the sight of the elk hanging before her eyes. She gently bit into the organs dangling there, and ripped them away. She was careful to remove the entire stomach and small intestine with her first bite. The large intestine would follow naturally. Afterwards, she removed the liver and kidneys, the organs were her favorite, and a delicious addition to any meal. She left the heart where it was, the chunk of concentrated muscles would give vitality to the elder wolves in her old pack.

She finished gutting her first elk, and then moved to help some of the younger wolves with gutting theirs. Most of the wolves had reverted to their humanoid forms to finish, frankly, she scared poor Embry half to death when she casually reached past him, and corrected the angle of his knife with a well placed tap of her tail. He jumped and nearly dropped the blade, but a gentle push from her mind to his caused him to relax. She came upon a sorry looking scruffy boy, who still appeared wet behind the ears in her opinion, still struggling to hook his elk upon the tree branch. He had the strength on him, but was still short. Selenay was perplexed a bit at that observation, but brushed it aside. _"What is your name, pup?"_ She whispered, the boy turned to her, with large brown eyes which accented well with his russet skin, and blinked owlishly at her, he reminded her of one of the wolves she knew when she first came to the New World, …Hawkwing was his name. _"I am Quimby, son of Hazeleye." _His thought-speech was muted, as if he was still new to the pattern of speech among his brethren. _"Quimby, well-met. Perhaps you should try a branch lower down. Like that one over there."_ She nodded her head at a nearby tree, the branch she was referring to had been ripped off from a stray gust of wind from her wings, making the remaining branch appear as a massive sharp looking spear. Quimby made a high-pitched sound high in his throat, an exclamation sound of rediscovery. _"That would work better, wouldn't it…"_

Selenay nodded her head, and watched as he hefted the elk over his shoulder, and carried it over the tree branch. He fumbled around for a knife, and found his missing. Selenay, not wanting to waste time, brought a single talon down, and opened the corpse with a swift movement. The skin peeled away with not even a hint of blood, Selenay blinked at that, this one had drained all of the blood beforehand very well. She heard a small "Oh" sound, and saw out of the corner of her eye the boy had finally fished out his knife, he shrugged and put away his knife as Selenay brought her head down on the elk, and fished out the stomach and other gastric organs.

When she finished, she smiled toothily at him, a small dribble of blood trickling down her chin giving her a morbid look. She turned away from him, and moved out towards the center of the clearing. The wolves that were done gutting their kills brought out the finished product, and set about tying them to the massive spines on her back, and then they interlocked the antlers around under her neck to keep them from swinging around too much in flight. Jacob came up, and let her know he was going to carry his own, and not wanting to be outdone, Sam opted to do the same. They weren't sure what to make of this great female, who was just as good a killer as they were, and so obviously used to giving out orders, even if she were a dragon of massive proportions.

She nodded her head at them, just as the last wolf tied the last elk to her side, she stood up on her hind legs, and flapped her wings briskly to settle her cargo, and be sure that it wasn't going to slip. She came back down on her forelegs with a heavy thump.

"_Tighten the cord attaching the third on my right, please."_ She said, and Embry came forward, and tightened it for her, then she nodded her head and crouched down, everyone backed away, shifting back into wolf form as she did so.

She raised her wings, and as the wolves turned and retreated to the edges of the clearing, she lunged forward, and launched herself up into the sky. She stretched her wings out, and caught herself, and fell a few feet before she recovered and stroked her wings harder to remain in the air. The weight of the elk was a surprise to her, and she snorted and gasped a little, as her wings protested at the weight. She fought her way up higher into the sky and then angled her wings to let her glide on the thermals she found. Being this close to the coast had its advantages.

She stroked her wings on the winds, just to stay aloft, and glided all the way back to the reservation, which took about thirty minutes. She headed first to the sea, then swung around, and came up the cliff-side, straight to the fire pit. She angled down, and back-winged cautiously, she touched down, tail taking the brunt of her landing, then her hind-legs touched down, and she folded her wings to her sides, letting her forelegs take the rest of her landing.

Dust settled, and there was a resonant thump as she gazed around the fire pit. Jacob was already back, and she didn't have to wait long before he came forward and started untying the elk from her back. With his help, she finished stripping the skin from the carcasses, and beheading the elk carefully. They skewered the bodies, and settled them on racks near the fire. Selenay turned towards the fire pit, and with a deep breath, she ignited the logs within the pit.

The sound of heavy paw-pads thumping down on the ground announced the arrival of the rest of the wolves. Sam arrived, with his elk slung length-wise along his back; Selenay bit back a drakine-like chuckle, as it appeared the elk was mating the great wolf. However, due to her close proximity, Jacob caught her thought-image, and bit his lip to keep from bursting out laughing.

She took the elk from Sam, and absent-mindedly skinned it, beheaded it, and then drew out another iron pole, she stuffed the pole down through the neck opening, and out through the hind legs. That finished, she turned to the fire, and added more logs to the fire, and breathed upon it, willing the fire to devour the fresh stock placed in their element. The fire leaped up, eager to obey her will, and she sighed with contentment.

As the fire slowed down, and the embers glowed, she beckoned to the now-humanoid boys to set the elk on the brazing rack. Fat dripped down and sizzled in the flames, and Selenay looked up to see that elders were now filing their way down the fire ring.

She lifted her great head to the elders, and dipped it graciously. "Welcome, good fathers, and sisters. The meat is well, and shall be ready soon. Come sit, the dragon-fire shall ease your aged joints, and set your hearts at ease."

"Are you calling us old, daughter?"

Selenay stiffened, surprised at the man's words. "Oh! No, elder, I was just pointing out that you move so gingerly, I could only assume it was your joints straining…Oh, that came out wrong, too…" She trailed off, realizing that she was babbling out loud.

Laughter met her ears, "He jests, good daughter. Pay that old coot no heed."

"Would that be entirely too rude to ignore him altogether, sir?" She addressed the other elder who now spoke up.

"Spirits save us; she is as the stories tell of her. Candid to the last drop. Not a teasing bone in her body."

Selenay's mouth twitched, as she caught that half-whispered sentence from the lips of an elderly female. She didn't take it harshly, though. The woman looked kindly upon her, honest-looking enough, and the words were said with a mother's praise anyways.

"I'm sorry, what was your name, dear elder-mother?" Selenay asked out loud, turning her head towards the woman who spoke. Though the accent sounded strange, she could speak through her mouth in dragon-shape.

"I am the mother of Leah, and Seth Clearwater. You may call me Goody, sky-daughter. I am honored to meet you. I hope you can forgive my outburst, but I was just surprised that yet another of our legends are true. I wasn't here earlier, you see." The woman said, now labeled Ms. Clearwater.

Selenay pruummed with pleasure of meeting her, and thumped her tail on the ground, many eyes were drawn to the flashing of dangerous scales and sharp spines, and everyone was reminded again that Selenay was a creature of deadly intent, and destruction, for all her cheerful and honest personality. Forty-five minutes later, the fire announced that the meat was cooked, though only Selenay could hear the warning.

The hissing of the fire, as more fat dripped off the many spits of elk drew everyone's attention, and many whines were heard throughout the campfire, Selenay chuckled, and reached with one claw, and struck into the side of a nearby elk. The meat was resistant to her touch, and clear juice welled up, and dripped from her claw point. She nodded her head, and sliced off a chunk and passed it around. The boys whooped for more, and Selenay waved her claw, giving permission for everyone to get their own cuts. She herself reached forward, and cut out sizable chunks, and passed them on plates to the elders, making sure they were served the most tender of the belly-muscle, and parts of the hearts.

The boys chattered among themselves, growing louder, and more comfortable with Selenay's presence as she remained with them. She lounged, with her back to the cliff. The wind would wash up sea spray, cooling her backside as the flames added their own warmth to the already furnace-like heat of her core.

After a time, and what seemed several hours with the moon high in the sky, everyone finally drifted off, carrying large cuts of meat home with them for tomorrow's breakfast. There was plenty to go around indeed. After the others retired, Selenay fully gorged herself on the remains, finding special interest in the joints, and the marrow within the bones. Her jaws easily cracked the bones, and she eagerly licked up the marrow.

After eating her fill, she burped and sighed with satisfaction and settled down to sleep, the bones of her meal neatly placed off to the side, completely stripped bare, and cracked lengthwise with precision.

Sometime during the night, Selenay opened her eyes, and looked out at the dark ocean below her. The sea called her, and her blood sang for the feel of the ocean over her scales. She turned her head to look back at the wolves, they were all sleeping peacefully, half in their wolf forms so they would be close at hand in case one of the scouts on patrol ran into trouble, help could be mobilized immediately.

They probably wouldn't miss her.

She stood up and stretched silently, not allowing any of her scales to rustle as she shifted positions. Her tail she held high in the air, so that none of the scales scraped against the floor.

Without a sound, she leaped off the cliff-side, her wings held half-open. As she fell, the wind caught her and picked her up and she glided down without fear of what lay beneath. As she reached far enough out, she threw her wings back and dived into the ocean. She sank beneath the waves with a blissful sigh. Her Sea-King blood roared to life and her old instincts welled up.

She swam down, for several minutes. The darkness became more and more complete around her as to place her in total sensory deprivation. She fought down her panic and instead switched to seeing with her Talent. Limited as it was, it still allowed her to see any and all life forms, and inert objects. It was an attribute bred into her kind by the Alectors of old. But that was over a millennia ago, and several worlds apart.

Down at this depth, it was cold. Colder than between worlds, in the long Translation Tubes when a planet was close enough to translate. Other times, the Alectors and Dragons transferred by colony ship and prepared the world with a strong enough grid for the more powerful Alectors and Dragons to Translate directly.

That was what her father was in the process of doing. Though the vampires had been a bit of a scientific surprise, the planet Earth had been discovered as a complete treasure trove. Her father recognized the "gifts" that had arisen in the vampires at times, and sought to harness the ability for those gifts to generate in Alectors. His final breakthrough had been when he used a vampire to break open the wings of a Dragon.

Selenay paused as she registered a sea-form she had not seen before, as it drew closer, she sent out small pulses of energy to recognize it as a strange squid drifting through the water. It had obviously been enticed into coming close because it also had not recognized what Selenay was, and Selenay doubted it would. However, as the squid drew close enough, she was able to scent it, and grinned in amazement.

She had found a Magnapinna! The twenty-three foot squid was beautiful, and very alien-like. It had ten appendages where as the normal squid or octopus had eight, and four of the tentacles fanned out at the beginning at ninety-degree angles from the rest of its' body. Such a creature was rarely ever seen, and Selenay felt herself privileged to have witnessed it.

Smiling, she started to swim further out, and continued her train of thought. That was not to say her father was callus, he enjoyed the vampire's company, especially that of Carlisle. But he had duties to make sure that he ensured the improvement and well-being of his sister-species, the Alectors. The two sentient beings had arisen together, and fell together. They were inseparable.

Funny that the first millennia of their existence they had spent attacking each other on sight. Then when one Alector had aided a female dragon in birthing her eggs, she had rewarded him with the first egg of the clutch when it hatched. For a female dragon, who usually clutched upwards of thirty-five eggs, losing one egg to a dubious individual wasn't too shabby a loss. Especially when with the constant companionship and protection of the Alector, she managed to have every egg hatch.

Of course, the Alector had left. Taking the newly hatchling drake with him, he built for himself an Aerie up in the mountains. Since the Alector was a loner by choice, he was not disturbed for several decades. Later, he returned to civilization with Gaboole with him. Seeing the pair, they led to a brighter future to the rest of the races, and soon others followed suit.

In the massive tumble of confusion, it was decided that not anyone could Imprint on a drake, otherwise the power scale would be over thrown. Instead, all of the finest Alectors and Dragon-Mages in the world forced the bond to come as a selective choosing during each hatching attended. Hatchings were thrown open to any who wanted to attend, but if they Imprinted, they entered the service of the Dual Scepters, and had to serve as part of the Myrmidons to keep the peace.

The race of Dragons went from a feared and hated force of nightmares to a glorious renewal of security, and peace worldwide; with Alectors to "guide" them, they were no longer thought of as merciless or cruel.

Of course, Selenay wasn't alive then, that information was passed down from her father, who was some great-great-great grandchild of the first mated pair of dragons with Alector riders.

Selenay spotted movement in the deeper darker waters, and she paused. Her train of thought was broken. The shape grew larger, and Selenay's eyes went wide as she tried to figure out what it was. But the voice that thundered out through the water intervening the enormous figure and Selenay answered her question.

"Selenay? Daughter of Irenia, the Sea-King?"

Selenay could not believe her luck.

"Darlana?" Selenay swam closer to the massive figure, she was even bigger than before. Her hulking figure was littered with scars, and barnacles graced her form in places.

"It is my name. I am glad you still live. It has been long." One large thoughtful eye bore down on her appraisingly.

"It certainly has, Darlana. How is Faola?"

"He is grown, has his own calf now. I am carrying my fourth since having him."

"Wow! But, how old are you?"

"Not so old, I was twenty-three when you met me. Irenia saved me as a small calf, and helped me reach my majority. Faola was my first." The great whale opened and closed her mouth, and the sonar made her distort her words slightly. "My, but you have grown little one."

"I'm not little!"

"You're little to me. But so fierce!" Selenay could feel her amusement at her outburst.

"Your mother would be so proud of you, Selenay."

"Yes, I suppose she would. I haven't made my move to avenge her death yet, though."

"Don't let such anger consume you, or it will burn you out." She warned.

Selenay shook her head, "I'm not trying to, but that wrong must not lie like that, I will end the Volturi!"

"As you wish, little one." Regret was clear, as well as anxiety over my well-being.

Selenay slithered closer through the water, and settled herself to hover over Darlana's back, "Do you remember when we traveled like this?"

"Yes, little dove. I remember." She replied, and the wistfulness was back. She wished Selenay hadn't left.

"I enjoyed those days, they were like lemon-balm to my soul, after what happened."

"I enjoyed them, too. I found something you might like, in the ice where I come from. Through an old tunnel. When you finish your business with the Red-Eyes, come find me again, and I'll see if I can find it again."

"Really now?" Selenay said, casually. This was interesting.

"Yes, you know I don't lie."

"Of course not, Darlana." Selenay scratched Darlana's back soothingly, her claws scraping carefully. "I'm glad I spoke with you tonight, but dawn will be approaching soon, so I need to head back. I've got a family of wolves now, they're glorious beasts! Very big, they developed to hunt vampires. Isn't that amazing?"

"Do they now? That is very interesting. Good bye, Selenay. Until another time, then?"

"Certainly." Selenay replied, as she coiled over Darlana's back and shot off towards the surface, that was still dark.

She bobbed in the water for a time, before using everything she had to lift her wings above the water, and then wait for a large swell to lift her higher before she kicked out and fought upwards into the sky. She stroked rhythmically, circling lazily until she spotted the cold fireplace and sleeping wolves. Not wanting to disturb them, she landed on the cliff face, scrabbling on the rocky surface.

Then she climbed up, using her wing-claws for purchase. When she reached the top, she slid back into position, and went back to sleep, as if she never left. If the boys noticed her scales seemed a bit more damp than usual, then oh well. They could chalk it up to morning dew.


	4. Blood of the Fold

Chapter IV: Blood of the Fold

Jacob crept forward quietly, not wanting to bother the wolves still sleeping in the pre-dawn light, this morning; he had come to bring the lady dragon to the Cullens.

He had gone to them that evening, after everyone had eaten from the elk. He smiled at the memory, he had eaten elk before, but something about the dragon flame made the meat taste so fine… Ah! But enough, back to the task at hand, he had just reached the great creature's snout, a deep breath drew his hair towards her large nostril closest to him, and her breath shuddered and stopped, she gave a sharp short and one large maroon eye cracked open and rolled over at him. He held his breath in horrid fascination as he regarded the large eye that now regarded him with an alien intelligence. He had never felt so naked before, even when Edward had read his mind so calculatingly.

He watched as the pupil dilated and contracted, almost at will, and he found himself strangely unable to move, or even breathe under its hypnotic unblinking gaze.

"Ready to go, then?"

He jumped, and fell backwards on his rump right onto Embry's torpid form. Embry squawked in displeasure at being woken up, and Selenay blinked, and gave a sleepy yawn, revealing her large array of sharp white renders. She shook her head, and stood up. Stretching cat-like with her hind-legs rippling outwards, then the ripple shivered up her back, and down her forelegs, and finally up her neck.

Embry's upset was short lived, as Jacob picked himself up, and Embry rolled back over, and fell asleep again.

"Get on," Selenay said, as she turned her side to him, and looked out toward the sea. Jacob hesitated a moment, then reached up and caught a neck-spine near her back. He planted a foot on her outstretched knee, and vaulted up onto her back. '_Like climbing a tree.'_ He thought, as he settled into place. The great red dragon turned, and as Jacob saw where they were headed his eyes widened, and as if she never moved at all, they slipped off the cliff. Jacob's heart rose up his throat as they plummeted down, he gave a strangled yell, and clung to Selenay's neck tightly with both arms wrapped around her. There was a wild _SNAP _as her wings opened, and the wind picked them up.

Jacob watched with his mouth clamped shut in wild-eyed terror as the water rose up to meet them, then they were skimming the surface of the blue-gray water as Selenay leveled off from her dive and pulled away. Another updraft caught them, and they were tossed up into the air, strong wing-beats sounded with perfect tempo. The thumping sounding similar to his thundering heart, they rose high into the air. Jacob looked around them in wonder; the Cliffside they had been sleeping on looked for all in the world like a little step onto a broader world. The water looked choppy, and excited below them. Now Jacob was aware of the stinging sensation on his legs, and looked down to see red wheals on his thighs, and calves.

"Selenay, my legs—they've been badly cut open, we need to land, I can't stay like this." He didn't know if she heard him, but then she turned and angled down toward the forest, their descent added a wild speed that was extremely smooth and swift and did not chaff his wounds as much. They glided for some time, until they reached a broad field of grassland. She back-winged carefully, but Jacob hissed in agony regardless as her body shuddered beneath him from the changes of speed, and the impact of landing. As soon as she settled, he tumbled to the ground, and howled and hissed like something between a cat and a dog. But even as she and Jacob both watched, the wounds on his legs closed up and were whole again. Nothing remained but a broad pink scar on the inside of each leg.

An odd sound welled up in Selenay's throat and exploded out her tongue; she threw her head back, and roared. It took Jacob a moment to realize it was laughter. "Now you bear the mark of the Dragon, little wolf." She said, as she caught her breath. Jacob's nose twisted up in a half-snarl, "It was still painful, you sadistic overgrown lizard!"

"Watch your tongue, wolf, this is no lizard! I know well the ability of your blood to heal. It was I who gifted them with it in the beginning when I altered the wolves through my presence and the gift of my own blood. You would do well to remember the mother of your blood."

Jacob couldn't find a way to respond to that, so shocked was he.

"You didn't give birth to the wolves, the Quileutes. I know that!"

"No, before, they were great wolves. Enormous in stature that full grown wolves matched me, when I was younger. But their wounds healed slowly. During a sparring match with one of the wolves, Chief Black, I noticed this.

Afterwards, I cleaned his wounds myself, and my saliva mixed with his blood, and reacted strangely. Afterwards, every wolf I healed, they became faster healers and so I improved the blood of these wolves. I made you into the killers you are," here she looked at him appraisingly, almost proudly. "Who knows, with my presence I may change more things about you wolves. Your kind seems to be very receptive to mine."

As Jacob listened to her, he felt his irritation towards her dissipate. This knowledge was new to him; he had always been able to heal so quickly he had taken it for granted. But to find it had been a gift from this same creature who he had found at first to be slightly malicious…

He shook his head free of the thoughts and implications.

"Lead on, let's be off then." Selenay said, as she watched the facial expressions relax, and she knew his anger had faded. Jacob turned his back to her with a nod, and then shifted into a large russet wolf, with longer hair than the other wolves. Selenay laughed softly, _'the red stalks the red'_ she thought. They started up at a lope, the red dragon dragon-dashing after the wolf through the foliage, leaves swished and squelched under paw and claw. Branches cracked and groaned as they rubbed past them, dew drops rained on them, and Selenay's scales became slick with the moisture.

After a time, Selenay began to feel the force of the Cold One's on her body. The sensations felt like pressing ice against her snout. She reflexively jerked her head back, before realizing it was not a wash of ice water on her face. Her step faltered, and Jacob looked back at her wonderingly.

"Continue, please. I just feel them up ahead." She said by way of explanation.

Up ahead, the trees fell away to a grassy field, and Selenay spotted a large white house, composed of wide windows. '_Certainly not for defensive purposes'_ she thought, a soft snort passed her nostril, tinted with sulfur and magnesium odors. They stepped out, and blinked, though the sun wasn't out; it's brightness that reached out through the clouds was unfiltered by the absence of overhead tree branches. vampires slowly peeked their heads out of the backyard door, for they were behind the house, and took in the familiar sight of Jacob with the massive red dragon behind him who was bordering on the size of a gargantuan thing almost three times the size of a Clydesdale. Her wings were tucked firmly at her sides, and she panted lightly.

Even from their current distance they could hear the heavy tetra-pulse of her heartbeats, coming from her neck. It was loud, and somewhat soothing, if you didn't mind living things nearby, but the burn in the back of their throats increased with the scent of the dragon tantalizing their noses. Carlisle stepped out, gazing upon Selenay with recognition, and great joy. He strode out without fear of the great beast, and bowed to her deeply before rushing forward and wrapping his arms around her neck in a gentle and tender hug.

"Selenay! Queen of the skies, my love, how are you? It's been close to two centuries since I last saw you. Did you sleep this whole time?"

Selenay tilted her head to him in response,

"I have slept, and Dreamed well. My Wei den is very soft now. I Dreamed all this time in hopes that another might join me in the Emerald Dream, but no such luck turned her gaze on me. I am without others of my kind in truth, as far as I know." She said, with a measure of solemn sorrow in her voice. "However, as I dreamed, I kept hearing a faint, and sorrowful voice… It made me want to cry as I dreamed."

Then her eyes took on a determined and savage glint. "I have found what I went into the Wei sleep for, Carlisle! I Have found what we were looking for. Now, I come to cry vengeance upon those held responsible for this atrocity, the genocide of my kind. Do I find sympathetic ears here still?"

Carlisle rocked back on his heels, and released his hold on her neck. He reminded himself of how candid dragons were. They were always very direct for their reasons for showing themselves, and Selenay was no exception to the rule. But she had found what they had been searching for…it could only mean one thing…

"Yes, my lady Selenay. You find sympathetic ears. You may not have been told, but the Volturi are marching here as we speak, because of Renesme. She is a hybrid of vampire and human, born while my daughter youngest was still human, with her vampire husband Edward. She is a miracle to behold, as beautiful as a vampire, but she has a heartbeat, and she grows, and ages, and can eat human food, or blood. It is so exciting, Selenay my dear! She is such a blessing!"

Then his eyes darkened with anger, he continued.

"But the Volturi are claiming her as an atrocity, and now march here for her destruction and the annihilation of my coven. Would you help us? We need allies, my wing, and are in sore need of your presence. We could definitely defeat them if you were present; to be the destructive force we need the most. You alone are the one check to the strengths of vampires."

As they spoke together, it became obvious to the other vampires that she was not there to tear everyone apart, or cause any trouble, and Carlisle even seemed to know her, adore her even. Mystified, they stepped out, and crept closer to the dragonelle standing there as regal as ever. Though Selenay tensed at the intense concentration of chilling auras now creeping closer to her, they were having an opposite reaction from her, feeling like a blast furnace was sweeping and pushing at them.

"Yes, it appears we have similar enough goals, but please bear with me. I intend to destroy the entire coven of the Volturi for slaying my kith and kin. Hold no illusions of mercy on my part. Expect no mercy for them at my claws, they shall be destroyed." Her eyes took on a chilly appearance for all their maroon depths as she said this, as if reliving every moment where she stumbled across the path of yet another slain dragon, bodies rent and torn and disfigured in their frozen death throes.

Carlisle looked as if he were about to speak up against her intentions, to try and plea mercy, but the look in her eyes brooked no leniency for the ancient vampires.

"Yes, my lady, allow me to consult with the others before making our decision as a whole."

"Of course, Carlisle."

Carlisle turned from her and gazed upon the vampires and werewolves assembled there before him, "You have all heard her speech, and know what she intends. The ultimate destruction of the Volturi, and all involved with the slaughter of her kind. The question is whether you can take up arms against them to the end."

To his credit, all of the Cullens present nodded their heads, Edward and Esme remembered Selenay from their time with her in the past, when Carlisle had been reunited with the dragon for a time. The Denali's followed the other Cullen's lead and they all nodded in approval of it, even Kate where she stood near to Bella, who was holding Renesme, nodded her head in firm support for Carlisle.

The threesome had been practicing with Bella's shielding abilities, and Bella was frankly glad for the distraction this red wonder presented.

Peter and Charlotte were smiling and nodding, and Peter spoke up, "I've got a good feeling about this… girl, she seems like she's good for her word, and I think it would be an amazing experience to work with her. I remember hearing stories about dragons from other older vampires, and to imagine the look on Aro's face when he sees we've got not only werewolves helping us, but a dragon on our side, too?" He laughed, his unsettling red eyes glittering good naturedly as he appraised Selenay with open admiration.

Seeing his red eyes had Selenay twitching inside, the Volturi had red eyes! How could this man be safe if he had red eyes? Her thoughts were interrupted by an angry voice.

"Carlisle, this is madness! How can we know that she won't turn on us after she settles her blood debt with the Volturi? What's stopping her from slaying us the same way she will destroy the Volturi? I want no part of that creature, I can't see how she could possibly be trusted." One of the vampires at the back of the assembly sounded. His eyes were wide, and uncertain. Selenay could smell the fear and loathing emanating from his very being.

Selenay raised her head, and stretched it out towards him as far as she could muster. The vampires leaned away from her, and she regarded him very coolly.

"Leave if you wish, if you find the word of a dragon so untrustworthy; then go. I and everyone else who is with me will think nothing less of you. But just so you know; dragons are the creatures least likely to break a deal, once struck. That story at least is true. Ask the wolves, I have always been fond of them, and they know me well, I lived with them for a century."

She pulled her head away, and released him from her gaze abruptly, as images suddenly filled her mind; she looked down in surprise to find the source of the mind-pictures. A small pale child stood leaning her hand upon her leg; she looked so fragile and delicate with her large brown eyes, and soft bronzy locks of hair framing an angular face, still plump from baby-fat. Everyone froze in apprehension as Selenay gazed at the child. Bella was looking wildly frantic, her eyes were a sullen muddy red, that were fading slowly to tawny gold, but her eyes were turning dark now with terror for her child, yet she dared not move.

Selenay watched Bella carefully, she had been turned not long ago, and so her newborn instincts were fluctuating wildly. She had to move very carefully, seeing as Bella's baby now had her hand on Selenay's foreleg, standing so close to those crystalline claws that could rend the flesh off a vampire easily.

The child did not seem to fear the dragon for her size, or her massive jaws with crystalline renders which could so easily crush the girl. Selenay immediately recognized her from Jacob's mind-pictures,

"The child, Renesme." She looked up at Bella, who was riveted by Selenay's own gaze before Carlisle whispered to her softly, "Don't look her in the eyes…"

Selenay quickly brought her gaze down to stare at the grass and Bella did the same, "Bella," she called, and she saw Bella move slightly, recognizing her name. "I am not going to hurt her, I would never hurt your little one. Please…be calm." The poor newborn was terrified, she was quivering there. "Be calm, Bella. I will not hurt you, I am not going to hurt anyone."

In support to her efforts, Carlisle threw his arms around Selenay's neck gently, and hugged the dragon, and Selenay leaned into his touch.

"I am going to smell your child, Bella. I am not going to hurt her. See, Bella? She knows I won't hurt her, because she speaks to me the same way a hatchling dragon speaks to others as she first breaks her shell."

Jacob stood nearby, not sure what to do with Selenay so close to his imprinted. But he heard the stories when he was younger, and was just starting to turn into a wolf; Selenay was a wonder with children. There was no way that she'd hurt this child or any child, especially since this was the Imprinted of a wolf.

As he looked at Bella, he realized that Bella was slowly losing it, and stepped closer to her to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Bella, it's okay… Selenay always loved children. And she'd never hurt the Imprinted of another wolf. It's okay, you'll see." He whispered to her, and Bella's eyes glanced over at him, they were black in her fear and worry. Eventually, she started breathing again, pulling in deep unnecessary breaths to calm herself down, and it seemed to begin to work.

Selenay lowered her head, and brushed her snout through Renesme's hair, and snorted as she memorized the scent. She heard several gasps as she did so, and then as she settled down on the ground in front of the child, Renesme climbed up into Selenay's lap of her folded forelegs.

Now, Selenay began sending her mind-pictures of her own, and Renesme's eyes opened wide in astonishment at the images so alien popping into her mind, with a giggle, Renesme started sending more of her own mind-pictures, in a dizzying speed. A cold hand settled on Selenay's forearm, and she looked up to see a man with bronze hair and golden eyes. Selenay recognized him as Edward, crouched in front of her, with an expression of amazement on his face.

"She doesn't fear you, and even speaks to you. But that's not all, you speak to her with the same mind-pictures, and you're going so fast, I can hardly keep up with it all! I'm..I'm Edward, her father. I can read thoughts."

Selenay nodded her head to him cordially, "A pleasure to meet you, child. This one, your daughter, she speaks well for a hatchling. This is the one Jacob told me of, his Imprinted. I had no idea she could speak like a hatchling. It has been long since I got to speak the language of the hatchlings. I almost mistook her for a hatchling herself." She looked back at Bella, who was clutching at two tall blonde haired female vampires who stood in front of her, her head was craned around cautious and longing to come closer. "Come here, Bella. Do not fear me."

The newborn moved jerkily, and stepped forward cautiously. She crouched lower, and walked towards Selenay, her eyes were still dark, but not as dark as before. As she finally reached Selenay's head she stopped and looked up at Selenay with terrified wonder in her eyes.

"Wow… you're beautiful." She choked off, and lowered her gaze, "I'm sorry, I'm just so scared…"

"You're doing wondrously, child. Relax." Selenay gently pressed reassurances and encouragement to the young vampire, as well as understanding and trust. Bella breathed deeply once, twice, then three times before relaxing some more to sit in front of the pair and her own husband and mate.

Renesme looked up at Selenay, a bright look in her deep brown eyes, then climbed out and back into Bella's arms, as soon as the child was in her mother's arms, Bella's eyes shot back to a mellow golden color before they closed in relief. As Bella stood up, Edward did also, a light smile on his face, "So you'll help us against the Volturi, then? And we'll help you against them, as well."

"Yes, I'll help you squash the overgrown Red-Eyes. I trust I have given everyone enough time whether or not they can trust a Sky-King's word. To be sure, I like my meat warm, and bloody. Not bloodless, so have no fear of me eying you like prime rib. My quarrel is with the Volturi, not any of you."

There were nods all around, but the vampire from earlier spoke up again, "I don't like you, dragon. I've never met any of your kind, and I don't think I'd like to meet more, just looking at you makes me think I'm facing the gates of Hell, itself."

"Very well, you may leave if that so suits you, I will not stop you—"

"No! Let me finish, dragon." He spoke up again, "If that's what I feel, with you standing so far from me, I'd rather not get on the wrong side of you. I'd really hate to feel the fires of your fury on my own flesh. So, I shall stay, if you can put up with me." He finished, his arms crossed and looking off somewhere into the trees. If one looked closely enough, they would see that he was visibly shaking with suppressed skittishness.

Selenay's eyes lit up with quiet mirth, "I see, welcome sir. May fair winds cross your…mane, and may you find glory in the viciousness of a storm and in battle."

"You, too…" he looked winded.

Selenay sat up straighter, "You all need to grow accustomed to my scent and my heat if we seek to work as a team, that way when you allow your primal selves to take over in the heat of battle, you will not target me. Come close to me, as close as you dare; and stay until you are comfortable with me and then pace closer. During this time, I shall not move."

With that said, Selenay lowered her head, and gently set it against the ground, her snout buried in the grasses to appear as harmless as possible. It also placed her throat solidly against the earth, and hid it under the armor of her scales.

Now she watched Bella, the girl couldn't possibly be older than 18 in human years. The little newborn was remarkably brave, she began talking now; her voice no longer cracking and choked up with suppressed fears.

" How did you know my name? Ah, and how did you know Renesme was my child?"

A large amber-maroon eye locked onto her, and the pupil contracted and expanded lazily. "She told me much about you, he did too. That wolf. You are a wonder in itself. You even met them, I think. The Volturi, you know. I do not want to contemplate their demise at this moment. You, however, very nearly did die, didn't you? Edward was very persistent, determined that you could not die without him. She remembers, she surprised that she remembers all that, but she remembered when she was placed, still wet, on your bare chest."

A heavy rumble sounded deep in her throat. "You were very brave, or very foolish, to imagine yourself so invincible, but around so many immortals, can you believe anything different?" As she spoke, Bella's brow furrowed in concern and Selenay could see the implications.

"You are very candid, so honest. The world would do well with more of you." Bella replied. "But it makes it difficult to tolerate you, and that's just the truth of it; it's not always nice to hear." Bella crawled forward a few more paces, and stopped, just within touching distance of one long webbed ear.

Selenay was glad to see her fear had receded so far after so short a time.

She reached a hand out, and traced her fingers delicately against the fine veins, and leathery skin of the ear, the ear twitched at the sudden cold fingers, and Selenay yawned carefully. Her large eye rolled up watch Bella's slender hand with rapt attention. Other vampires of the coven, and the guests of Carlisle, crept forward at their own pace. Some of them actually sat on the ground at various distances from Selenay's languid form, and would inch forward every few minutes.

Finally, Bella found herself sitting next to Selenay's large leg, tracing the patterns on her scales. After a time, her close proximity to Selenay warmed her cold body, and when she finally decided she was done "baking" as the other vampires quickly described it, their throats burning, and skin heated to near searing, she stood up to go get some fresh air and hunt.

At one point, one of the visiting vampires who had been shaking almost uncontrollably suddenly lost his concentration when another vampire leaving Selenay's side brushed against his shoulder. The smell erupted so intensely, he wasn't able to control himself; doubled with the heat of living blood, and intense heat, he lunged forward, and grasped Selenay's wing.

He pulled it from its closed position, his eyes dark with his intent, then his head buried into her wing, and Selenay roared in agony, her head snaked around, and she bit into the vampire's side, and tore him from herself. She pinned him to the ground with a large claw, then she turned her head to regard her wing with a smoldering gaze.

The tissues and muscles that bound her wing were ripped away, and blood flowed freely. Every vampire froze in their tracks, as the tantalizing scent teased and tickled their throats. All of them impulsively wanted to launch themselves into her side, and drink from her wound. Immediately, Edward was there, his eyes also turning dark and hungry. But his mind was clear,

"Everyone, please, back away! Do not feed! Go now, into the trees and run away. You can feed on the wildlife there, but do not feed on her! Come back when you have fed." Some of the other vampires who had frozen stopped breathing, and began to back away cautiously, fighting their own impulses to feed with every fiber of their being before turning around and running away.

Another one, a female with gray-brown hair, gave a sudden whimper, and dashed forward, and lapped at the dripping blood on Selenay's side, then pushed away and dashed out of the clearing, but before she could spin away, a large tail shot out, and coiled around her, slamming her to the ground, then dragged her back in front of Selenay's very intimidating head.

The man under Selenay claw thrashed from side to side in agony, and Selenay's gaze shifted back to him as the last of the vampires left the scene, Bella was next to her, looking at the blood in wonder, but making no move towards it.

Now, both of the vampires lay on the ground, squirming under Selenay's claws under her merciless gaze. "You really shouldn't have done that, I have no idea what my blood could do to you. It may be a poison, or it may serve another purpose. Edward, do these two have any 'talents' I should be aware of?"

Edward shook his head, "No, these were just a wild couple we lured out of hiding, they weren't exhibiting any talents, or powers that I know of, and I would have known, what with being in their heads and all."

"Well, I am sensing a change in them, whether it is for the better, or worse, I know not. They may be doomed with a painful demise…" Selenay lifted her claws from the two vampires, and their screams rose and fell in pitch, thrashing and writhing on the ground. Other vampires slowly crept from the underbrush, and they saw the wound in Selenay's wing was now healed, they approached with horror on their faces.

Jacob was watching in horrified fascination as the vampires writhed under Selenay's watchful eyes. Horrified because of his knowledge of how his own blood became faster at regeneration. As he glanced around at the vampires coming out of the forestry, some had blood stains around their mouths and Jacob fought back a shudder. The scent of so many vampires crowding close was getting out of hand, but he's be damned if he didn't wait here and witness what would happen if a vampire drank the blood of a dragon.

As they saw the two laying on the ground, at the feet of Selenay, no longer being held down, they squirmed and thrashed in a world of pain all their own. At the sound of heavy footfalls on the porch, Selenay and Edward and Bella turned to see Esme standing still, a hand pressed against her mouth, as she watched the two prone pale bodies thrashing uncontrollably.

"Somebody help them! They're in such agony, can we do nothing?" She breathed, her lips parted with the strength of the pain the two were going through, you didn't need to be an empathy to know they were in pain. Carlisle stepped out, and kneeled down by their sides. He looked helplessly between the two, their thrashing and gaping blood-stained mouths unnerved him.

"What blood is this, is it yours, Selenay?"

"Yes, Carlisle, they lapped my blood, from my wing. I don't know what shall befall them."

"Can I have a sample of your blood? I need to see this under a microscope."

"Of course," Selenay replied, suddenly curious at what he might find.

Carlisle flitted back inside, and came out moments later with a test-tube, and a large needle and syringe. He stepped forward, and found an artery in her wing, close to where the original bite was, but all that remained of the bite was new, pinkish scar material in a half-moon shape. He took a measured breath, and then plunged the needle in. As the tube began to fill, he found himself gazing on it with a dazed expression.

Surely just one lap wouldn't hurt…he shook his head, and glanced back at the two laying on the ground, guarded worriedly by Selenay's head. Once the tube filled all the way, he took it inside with him to his office. He plucked off a bit of his own skin with a grimace, and set it under the microscope. Once he had that within his sights, he withdrew a small amount of the blood and dripped it on the sample of skin, and observed the results.

Carlisle gasped, and pressed his eyes more intently to peer through the scope.

Edward crept up behind his father, and watched him uneasily. "What do you see?"

"This is so amazing, Edward, I need to see the two down there, did you catch their names?"

"Yes, they are Jared and Samantha, immortal since the Great Depression, they're siblings. Carlisle… they don't look good."

"I would suppose not, what I've seen must be terrible to feel first hand. The blood is attacking, and converting the cells to act more like them, alive." Abruptly, the screaming downstairs stopped, and all was silent.

With fear in their eyes, they raced at an unnatural speed down the stairs, they reached the sides of the unfortunate pair and were astonished to find them sleeping peacefully now, their eyes closed, and breathing regularly. But what had them the most astonished was the fluttering they heard.

A heavy tetra-pulse not quite as loud as Selenay's own hearts. Selenay was gazing upon them as if they had sprouted another head, but it wasn't far from the truth, their bodies were changing. Their necks were slowly elongating, their heads turned and their faces rubbed into the dirt under the pressure of their stretching, morphing spine.

Edward and Carlisle reached down, and lifted their faces, and watched as the skull cracked and crunched in their palms, and elongated into a long snout with tilted eyes, and a ridged brow. As they watched, everyone came closer now, to see what was happening to the siblings. A tearing sound caught everyone attention; a long tail grew from the base of the spine of each of the siblings.

Their clothing tore apart and everyone gasped as suddenly, the chests rose up into the air at an unnatural angle, Bella was quick to figure it out, and with a small cry, she rolled Samantha over. Edward and Carlisle rolled over Jared, and everyone gasped as two large cases swelled on their backs, and the last shreds of clothing fell away from them. But it was hardly needed anymore, their bodies were thickly covered in scales; Samantha was a dusty green, and Jared was a more of a bronze color.

Jacob swore under his breath, transfixed by the sight. He no longer felt crowded by the numerous vampires now around him, and they all seemed to have forgotten about him.

Lastly, there was an audible sickening crunch as the knees of Jared and Samantha suddenly inverted, and the legs thickened and lengthened as did the forearms, claws grew more pronounced, and Selenay snorted gustily as she ran her nose of the swollen cases on the backs of the newly transformed drake and drakka.1

"So, that is the effect of my blood on these vampires…meanwhile on the wolves, they just grow more powerful." Everyone looked at her askance, except the wolves; they knew the truth of her words.

"Look, they stir." Sure enough, the two began to move, gingerly at first, then with more thought, and will.


	5. Named Ones

Ch. V Named Ones

With a soft growl, Selenay pushed her head towards them, to be the first thing they saw when they opened their eyes. She didn't know why she did this, it was some strange effort on her part to try to cushion any startled feelings they might be exposed to. Their great triangular heads rocked from side to side, their rough reptilian lips still pressed firmly against the grass flattened by the density of their being. Their eyes still remained closed, though, and then, with their continued rustling together, they brushed each other's sides, and as the chiming crystalline tone rang out clearly among those waiting there with baited breath, their eyes snapped open.

And they blazed with molten magma.

They lifted their heads as one, and abruptly, Edward gasped, and fell to his knees, his eyes dazed. Large molten eyes gazed at him sharply, before rolling to the only creature that resembled them in stature, and shape.

They opened their mouths, and the strange keening was sorrowful, and haunting.

"They… They have no mind. It's so alien, and…I cannot hear coherent thought from them…They are breathing, alive, hearts beating, but they are no longer thinking beings…"

As Edward spoke, it was clear his words were truth. The other vampires now gazed upon the two drakes with sad gazes, their hands twisting with anguish. The drakes stood up, and turned towards Selenay, and brushed her sides with theirs, feeling like little ducklings standing under their mother. Selenay was amazed at the rush of maternal instincts running through her veins. These poor creatures were born from her blood, by merely sipping it; they were turned from sentient, long-lived immortals to wild, un-sentient drakes. Such as had never been heard of before, she wondered distantly if she was gazing upon the past, or the future of Dragon-kind.

She hoped it was not the former. This could not be how she would end up someday, or her own hatchlings would end up some day. She turned her head, and groomed Jared's face, and he turned his nose towards her, welcoming the familial contact. She thrummed to him gently, and he thrummed back, then the turned towards Samantha, and licked her face as well, Samantha purred loudly, and curled up against her leg, and Selenay did not even notice her own wing coming down to envelop her. The way her body acted of its own accord both surprised and comforted her, she desperately didn't like to believe that all females could excel at was killing. And hatchlings, of course, one never EVER got in the way of a dragon and her younglings.

"You should understand, they have had their proverbial clocks turned back. They have become very young hatchlings, and someday soon now, their wings will open, and their fire bladders will mature, in that time, when it is time, perhaps they could be given riders, if you can teach them. I will need two volunteers who are willing and ready for the hardships of handling them. They, as Edward has declared, are not sentient like me, or you. But they are very intelligent in their own manner of speaking. I don't think you'll ever find a more cunning predator."

"You know, life as an immortal does get very boring, what the use of being immortal without a little excitement? I'll try my had at gentling one of these hatchlings, who knows, maybe this is the great adventure I've been waiting for my whole existence." Spoke up a vampire from the back of the group; his accent was difficult for her to place, the late afternoon sun cast her tendrils across his pale face, and there was a sense of age about his eyes, a certain quality she had only seen when reminded of Aro. "What is your name?"

"Stefan, and I have been alive for far too long."

"You do know nothing like this has ever been done before, you may lose your life in the pursuit of taming this hatchling. But…if you do succeed, you may be among the first to become air born by that of another creature." Selenay spoke slowly, pronouncing every syllable as articulately as only she could, in her strangely shaped jaw.

"I do, but I've seen enough of the world, and what it holds. I wouldn't be terribly upset if I were to lose my life in the attempt. I guess you could say I'm willing to be a guinea pig, if you will."

Selenay tilted her head at him, as if considering his qualities. "Fine, take one. Let's see if you can convince one you mean it no harm." Selenay felt something twinge inside her chest as she said the words. How could she just write off another of her own kind like that? What did it matter it held all the intelligence of a cougar? These could be the last of her kind here, and she was ready to deny them freedom, for the sake of being a weapon in her arsenal for revenge.

Stefan stepped towards Selenay, and the hatchlings, his arms spread wide away from himself, as if to welcome them to him, and showing them he had no weapons. They looked at him cautiously, their eyes gazing at him in curiosity. No harm had ever befallen them at their hands, and they had no reason to be afraid.

Samantha snaked her head towards him, and he offered her his hands, she sniffed them delicately, something about his being was familiar to her, like something out of a dream. His cold hands and pale skin, those large red eyes of his reminded her of something like out of a dream. But her mind held no memories of her former life, and all the familiarity of his being was just that. His hands caressed her face; her lower jaw, and the ridges above her eyes, even the small crest of horns growing in just in front of her ears.

After she was assured his hands were gentle, and he meant her no harm, she disentangled herself from the large red dragonelle, and the big red gave her a small push with a low gentle growl. She walked towards him, and leveled her gaze straight into his eyes, and again she heard the trilling of sound come from behind her, from the big red, but did not know what was said.

"Here is your dragon, then, Stefan. Treat her well, and she might not try to eat you. No one else could have a chance of gentling a wild dragon as an immortal. They are too strong, too fast, and too smart for any human. I suggest you get started training her."

Samantha, found herself to be enjoying the touch from the cool hands of the red-eyed vampire in front of her, and bumped his hands for more when he faltered in his ministrations. Stefan turned, and beckoned Samantha to follow him; she cocked her head to the side, then lunged forward, and trotted after him. Selenay watched them go with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Now, another brave soul stepped forward, she had bronzed skin, and large dark red eyes and long black hair. She stopped a few feet from Selenay and Jared before her and smiled warmly at the young drake, her arms held out away from her sides, as Stefan had done to entice Samantha. As a strange silent statue, she stood, and Jared watched her with curious eyes.

She willed him towards her with the intensity of her gaze. She folded her arms across her chest in a welcoming gesture of friendship, her fingers patting her chest in a rhythmical manner, the sound similar to that of a thrum. Selenay brought her head down, and nudged the young drake. Broke from his trance, he slowly ambled forward, and sniffed her hands, and then, the young girl wrapped her arms gently around his neck, and drew his large head into a close embrace then she released him, and began scratching and rubbing his chin affectionately, Jared sighed gustily in relief. She turned her head toward Selenay, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Yes, you may have him, Kebi."

The woman blanched, suddenly, and her facial expression became that of confusion. Selenay, her eyes twinkling, spoke again, "Yes, I hear your thoughts, but I hardly need to read your mind, to see your intentions." In Kebi's mind, Selenay continued,

"_I understand you cannot speak, Kebi, the way you speak to others with your body language is plain to see. I know the reason you seek this Drake's companionship is that you want someone who doesn't need words to understand you; this Drake would be good for you. Amun is good, but not enough. Jared can give you that. If you think loudly enough, you can speak to me in this fashion, and I will hear you."_

Kebi's eyes took on a look of understanding, and she nodded her head gratefully at Selenay, her smile wide and joyous. She beckoned Jared to follow her, and he did, deciding he also liked the attention he received at the hands of this woman, who bronzy skin was so similar to his own.

Amun intercepted her, however, "Kebi, let me help you with him, he could be dangerous."

She looked at him dryly, and he glanced sideways at her, "You're not invincible, Kebi, I know you can take care of yourself, but look at how these two ended up, one lick of _Her_ blood, and they're like this, what if the same were to happen with you drinking their blood."

She rounded on him, her eyes blazing. I'm not going to eat him!

"I know you're not, but what if they get scratched, and you can't help yourself?"

She snarled at him, silently. A hand reached up, and placed itself on Jared's neck, protectively.

"You can't keep all dangers away from him. Accidents will happen; you can't be everywhere at once."

She snorted. Neither can you, Amun.

"So, that's what I'm saying, if both of us were there to watch him, and help each other, we can watch the other's back, and make sure that nothing ill could befall any of us. It's safer."

She sighed, and hung her head just the smallest fraction, and glanced up at him from thick lashes. He smiled down at her, his darker bronze skin, and jet black hair complimented her own. He was glad she finally understood him, and he felt more secure now that she wouldn't be against him helping her. His own curiosity about the hatchling had been overruled by her quick-thinking action to claim the drake.

"Now that he is ours, we need to give him a proper name, don't you think Kebi?"

She looked over at him, and nodded once. By now, they were under the trees, and Kebi stopped Jared and Amun in a small clearing with the sun glinting down through the clouds, she paused and crouched down in the dirt, her fingers skittered quickly across the surface, and hieroglyphics took shape, though she could understand English, and write it, too, the ancient language of her birth was more familiar to her. In the sandy dirt, she drew the form of the ancient sky-god from her past.

'Horus'

"It is a good name, Horus it is then." Amun said, thoughtfully. "He would be a great creature of the skies. It makes sense, Kebi."

Kebi smiled, she loved it when he said her name; not many realized just how much girls like to hear their own name spoken by the ones they love.

Stefan and Samantha walked up to them, followed by Vladimir. "Ah, Amun, you got the other one I see, where should we keep them, in the garage? My Moiraine needs a place to sleep for the night, and I can't decide where to keep her."

Amun glanced back at Kebi, and she tilted her head at him. _Go on, don't bother correcting him now._ Amun cleared his throat, "I saw a meadow, a little ways north of here on our way here for the gathering. We could house them there, when we have a shelter erected. We could start now, and finish by tonight, if we all set to it. I know how they're made." Amun thought back to his life, long before he was bitten, and a glimmer of memory surfaced as the apprentice of a carpenter in ancient Egypt.

Stefan nodded, if somewhat reluctantly, and the group followed Amun and Kebi up through the trees, Kebi danced her way ahead, Horus trotted after her, knowing exactly where they were headed. Within half an hour of trotting, the trees parted and revealed a spacey field. It was a large grassy field that opened on one side to the open skies, a large cliff dropped down a hundred yards, adjacent to another cliff-side that rose up another two-hundred yards, and a small rainwater pond opened up next to the cliff, to trickle its way down the cliff-side. It was like a large corner cut out of the mountainside.

Kebi bounded into the clearing excitedly, and Horus followed her, his ears held erect and excited. Moiraine slowly trotted after her brother into the clearing after glancing back at Stefan uncertainly, Kebi meanwhile welcomed Moiraine into the game of tag, and the two drakes chased Kebi around, and were in turn chased by her, they moved fluidly around the clearing, in silent glee.

The other three vampires gazed upon the clearing, and nodded once sharply, then set to work breaking the trees down, and splitting the trunks into planks. As Kebi watched them she realized what they were doing, and moved forward to help Amun, and the drakes were left to watch, fascinated by the swift movements of their caretakers.

The ground where the barn was to be built took shape, Kebi set out, clearing it of brush and tugging rocks from the earth with the ease of a child playing blocks. Then Amun and Kebi tamped the earth with their feet, their strength solidifying the earth to the consistency of concrete.

Afterwards, Vladimir carried eight massive square planks, and drove each one point-first into the corners of the platform. Amun and Kebi disappeared into the pines and came out with more planks three minutes later. They carried the planks, and then connected all the pillars together with theirs. They drove shards of wood into the planks, keeping them from falling apart.

Two massive stalls took shape, each one eighteen by fifteen square feet, and twenty feet high, if Selenay was anything to judge, these drakes would get very big, they reasoned. They struck large chunks of stone from the cliff-side, and Kebi quickly shaped them into perfectly shaped blocks, with practiced ease she set her hands at an edge, and slide them along, and the rock would ship away into a fine powder. Then Stefan would carry them and set them into the walls, by evening word had spread of their activities, and others had arrived to watch, and eventually help with the raising of the grand stone structure.

Benjamin arrived, and clapped in excitement, he appeared next to Kebi, and began using his power to call blocks from the cliff, and he would sigh and the blocks would suddenly shiver and miscellaneous rock would fall to the ground in a fine dust. Kebi watched in fascination, and when their eyes met, a silent challenge was issued through their eyes, and they both set to work as fast as they could; lugging out chunks of rock, and shaping them into rock as quickly as only they could.

Their movements were all a blur to even the immortal onlookers. Amun laughed once, as Kebi and Benjamin played in their strange game, and he took the blocks they made, and set them into the walls.

Not wanting to be outdone, Vladimir and Stefan started cutting their own chunks of rock, and instead of the large blocks, they made large sheets of shale, and setting them as roofing to the barn, which they had relatively finished.

The competition went on, and everyone gazed in awe as the barn took shape, it was a massive stone structure, with a wide opening, and two large stalls facing each other across the wide hallway, with another room off to the side. Finally, stone was laid out in the hallway as the flooring, and at the doorways to the stalls, there were steps down, and Benjamin took a large stone into each stall, and crumbled the stone into a fine sand to pad the ground.

Kebi's eyes brightened as she watched this process, then she ran out and came back carrying a large tree trunk. She motioned for Benjamin to do the same to the tree, and he grinned boyishly.

He overtook the trunk with his power, and Kebi let go as it lifted from her hands, then Benjamin raised his curled hands, and with a with a ripping motion, the trunk split completely in half, Benjamin set one down, and carried the other into the first stall, then he closed his eyes, envisioning in his mind; the trunk splitting in half, then each part splitting again and again in half until the chunks were of uniform small chips; light and gentle to the touch.

He opened his ruby eyes, and smiled, all the pieces of the trunk hung in the air, perfectly split. He released them and they fell to the ground inside the stall. He turned and did the same to the other trunk, and the other vampires crowded around the entrance in the stall to see what was happening to the tree after the first one disappeared. Bella gasped in amazement, as the trunk met the same fate as its other half. It was an awesome sight to behold.

"Benjamin, that was amazing!" Bella said; her eyes wide in amazement. Benjamin turned halfway, and looked straight at her, a small smile on his stone-hard face. "You are the fourth person to genuinely consider my gift 'beautiful,' Bella, many see it as something to fear, and loathe me for it; other's are driven to try and kill me, and yet others wish me for their own. I am unbreakable, however, which vexes those 'others' to no end."

Kebi flitted away out of the barn, and stopped in front of Horus, who was rubbing his chin idly against his bulging wing cases. Kebi eyed them apprehensively, wondering when they would be ready to burst.

She clapped her hands together, softly, so the sound only mildly resounded around her, then gently wrapped her arms around Horus' neck, and purred against his shoulder. Horus arched his neck, and nosed her shoulder, his lip teasing her back as if to welcome her embrace.

Kebi pulled away, and then traced the outline of his scales, observing how they were shaped, and the depth of color changed depending on what angle you looked at them from. Her inspection over, she tickled under his chin, and she willed him to follow her into the barn, with a soft growl of assent, he followed her in. As Stefan saw them walk by, he made a small "Oh" sound, as he realized that Horus belonged to Kebi, instead of Amun, as he had previously thought.

The way that drake followed her around reminded him of a puppy following a beloved play-mate. He tilted his head, and stroked his chin, deep in thought. That drake was good for her, he decided, someone to relate to; Horus was mute, just like she was. What a fantastic pair they made!

Kebi and Horus stepped down into the wide stall, and Kebi sat down in a corner, out of the way, she lifted her left hand, and drew it across her in a wide arc, and Horus watched her motionlessly. _This is your room, you sleep here; safe._ Horus tilted his head, and he folded his body down, legs curled under him, and looked around slowly, taking it in.

After a small while, he grunted as if pleased, and lowered his head to the ground and closed his eyes. A gusty sigh escaped his muzzle, and a soft humming filled the air around him, Kebi watched him, mystified, as the air began to ripple around him, like a translucent halo. As the ripple reached her, Kebi gasped in surprise, as the heat-wave washed over her.

She stretched her hands toward Horus, and scooted closer, trying to find the hottest part of the radius around him, just as she was about to touch his skin, the heat on her fingertips became extremely hot, barely tolerable for her.

Kebi stayed still for a period of time, getting used to it, and when she thought herself brave enough, she braced herself, and placed her hands on Horus' scaly skin.

The sensation of fire was overwhelming, and the feeling burned furiously on her hands, and it seemed to travel up her arms to her chest, red-pink lines wound their way up her arms, and upon seeing the change in her normal skin tone she jerked her hands away, and watched as the lines pulsated on her skin, and gradually disappeared.

She breathed a shaky sigh, and then looked back at Horus' sleeping form warily. At the sound of a breath behind her, she spun her head around to see Amun standing there.

"The others have left, perhaps we should too." Kebi smiled up at him winningly, and drew her hand back offering him the spot next to herself. He complied and sat next to her, and she idly wondered if he had seen what she had done just a few moments before.

Slowly, he drew his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer to him, she didn't resist, melting against him with boneless feline grace. His nose brushed her neck, and he smirked as he felt her sudden stillness.

He kissed her tenderly on the neck, and then on the cheek, before gracing her lips with honest and gentle kisses. She turned her head towards him; he was always so careful with her and only her. Only when they were alone did he ever reveal his gentle side. Many knew him as a fearless and excessively aggressive and cunning vampire, but it was different with her.

She knew a more peaceful side, like a sleepy alpha lion, with her, his lioness. They stopped, and she leaned into his shoulder, and they turned and watched the newest member of their little family sleep.

After awhile, Kebi and Amun fell into a trancelike repose, it was their quiet-time, their chance to sit and think about their pasts, and memories, even muse over their human lives. Trying to find hidden answers to things that plagued their minds, they stayed like that for several hours, eyes closed.


	6. Forging the Alector

Let it clear: I do not own, nor ever will own, the books by Stephanie Meyer or L. E. Modesitt Jr. The respective creatures and being are strictly their creation. I only own the dragon, Selenay, and this plot. Now, enjoy my loves. And I hope you find this to be a rewarding chapter.

Man, I bet you all are just fed up and frustrated with my extended silence on updates...my apologies, school and work have kept me quite busy with little time to work on this. But enough of this, read on!

Favorite Quote: "It's like holding a wolf by the ears; you're afraid of holding on, but even more afraid of letting go."

* * *

Back at the house, Selenay was preparing to lift off on patrol, in the support of the wolf patrol. They had been running all day, and all night, in shifts of three. She could see it drained on their reserve energies. She would need them at their top fighting performance. The sun had fallen behind the mountains, already, and darkness was falling faster by the second.

She turned her head in the direction of the coast, and sniffed experimentally the salty breeze that drifted towards her tantalizingly. _Not today._ She shook her head, and stretched her wings out.

Stepping away from the house, she rose up to her full height and flapped her wings, testing the air. Then, she bounded forward, landing stiffly on her forelegs and then thrusting her hind legs against the earth as hard as she could, leaping high into the air. When she reached the apex of her leap, she threw her wings out and thrust them down with great dexterity.

Up in the air, she circled up on the fading hot thermals, and circled in ever widening spirals with the house as the center of her radius. The wolves were all sleeping, she found it easier now to slip back into the hive-mind, and their shared wolf dreams were fitful, and anxious, but it was deep slumber and the relief from the bodies warmed Selenay's heart.

Now she looked toward the darkness, and the cold, and stretched out her awareness of life around her. This was the Hunter's Eye, how her kind usually tracked their prey, now she used it to search out hostiles. As her gaze swept across the landscape, and her mind stretched out and brushed across the consciousness of the wildlife, and she came up empty. The wilds were vacant.

Alarmed, she cast her gaze out farther, and she made for an even wider patrol, but then she stopped. This region had been patrolled by enormous wolves; of course there wasn't much around. With a gravelly chuckle, she settled in for a long flight, working the patrol ring set by the wolves from the mind pictures they had lavished on her before taking off to sleep.

By the time the eastern skies began to lighten, and the stars disappeared, Selenay began to wing her way back towards the house, but on an afterthought she spotted the large stone structure that housed the hatchlings. Her body felt numb from the cold, but she continued her flight towards the building. It was as she was working her wings back to back-wing and slow her descent when she heard an odd crunch, and a sound akin to glass breaking.

Then the feeling like heavy weights she hadn't realized were there began sliding away from her. Looking over at her wings in surprise, she saw layers of ice cracking, and falling from her wings and crashing to the ground. She saw frost forming on her newly exposed scales as she continued to the ground, then she was forced to turn her attention to landing, and when her feet touched the ground, they felt like she stepped onto shards of glass, which didn't make sense, seeing as her feet were exceptionally tough.

With a surprised hiss, she hopped from foot to foot. Her ears pricked forward and her eyes wide. She looked back at her body to see frost forming on her scales, and then turning into mist right before her eyes, a gasp turned her attention to the opening to the barn, and she looked up to see Kebi, and Amun, standing there watching her. "I think I need heat," she managed through her ice-frosted jaws.

She had been flying constantly for the duration of the night; her endless cycle of patrolling at such high altitudes had caused ice to form on her wings, and back, without her notice because of the slow layering of ice. Her scales had super-frozen where ice didn't form that when she passed through much warmer altitudes with significantly higher humidity, it caused ice to form on them upon contact. Even though the core of her fiery heritage had not been extinguished, which would have killed her, the fires had been considerably dimmed from the dry cold during the night, and the only notice she took of it was her more labored breathing, and the slow seeping exhaustion that overtook her.

Kebi and Amun stepped aside, and Selenay began to move towards the barn, the doorway barely managing to envelop her, once inside the hallway, the temperature change was instantaneous. Selenay sighed, and stood very still as the heat seeped into her body. The sound of hissing became loud in the stone room, as the frost that had built on Selenay began to melt and fall away to the ground and then return to mist.

The difference within the room was relieving. Kebi and Amun gasped as they felt the blazing heat once again began to stir and the icy sensation ebb from Selenay's body. With a heavy sigh of exhaustion, she settled herself near the back of the barn, and fell asleep. It became even hotter inside the barn, and it caused the hatchlings to come crawling from their dens, and snuggle into Selenay's torpid form.

Kebi found herself watching the puddles of water in fascination, as the heat grew so intense, they began to evaporate. As she gazed back at the dragons, sleeping there, they looked akin to a glittering pile of embers and gems. There was a certain glow emanating from their bodies, and it showed through their scales, it was dim, and quiet; like a sleepy fire. And with a laugh, she realized that's exactly what it was; they were fire dragons.

Selenay woke up some time later, with the sounds of whistles, calls, and the sound of claws striking the earth. Most peculiar was a clicking sound that came rhythmically periodically, though muffled, through the barn doors. Curious, she stood up, and stepped outside into the bright day, the sun shown albeit weakly down on the dragons and vampires congregated there.

The dragons were running with the vampires around the field, Stefan waved his hands toward Moiraine, calling out to her in a foreign language that Selenay identified as _Latin._ Another strange rhythmic clicking had Selenay's head swiveling around, where she spied Horus and Kebi moving together in a silent exchange. Her hunger forgotten, she sat down to watch how these vampires would train those of her kind, who were not gifted with tongue, and the alien intelligence of her own.

She almost immediately started leaning towards Kebi's methods, maybe because it was so dignified and quiet. The understanding and connection between them was deep and instantaneous, she huffed with satisfaction at the sight of them together. Their colors complemented each other, and they meshed so well together, it was simply relaxing to observe them.

But after awhile, she began to more closely watch Stefan with Moiraine; though he was louder, his body language also spoke to Moiraine in his attempts to tell her what he needed; she could tell that Moiraine was growing frustrated with her lack of understanding what Stefan was telling her. "We aren't like horses, Stefan, more like… Cats. How do you work with a feline of great size?" she finally spoke out to him. He turned and regarded her, head tilted towards her as if considering her words. "Well, I guess you would know, seeing as you are one." He quipped.

He turned towards Moiraine, and brought his hand out towards Moiraine nose, she stopped and looked at it, then with his continued silence she finally reached out, and brushed it with the side of her snout. He caught the edge of her chin, and scratched her under the chin; the more flexible scales on her face had the texture of leather, and as such had a more itchy sensation at times. As Stefan continued to caress her face and neck, she began purring loudly in relief and leaning more into his hand, until he increased the pressure and the more grating sensation he was causing on her hide.

Now that he had her in a far more pleasant mood than before, he began beckoning her towards him, and she followed eagerly, and as he crooned to her encouragingly and scratched her again, he guided her some more, and then he started running with her, and she chased after him enthusiastically, And as he ran and she joined him, he patted her when she came level with him, and he thrust his fist out into the air in front of him, and said "Faore!" and with a growl, she jumped forwards and he cheered at her.

They continued together in this manner, with Moiraine becoming more and more comfortable with Stefan, and he with her. They started working more harmoniously. Selenay slapped her tail against the ground in satisfaction. She noticed movement at the edge of the clearing, and saw Carlisle walking forward to observe the practice.

After awhile, it was clear that the drakes were tiring, so Kebi and Stefan called a halt to the practice, for leave to hunt and rest for the afternoon.

Selenay gazed after them as they left the clearing. Her head tilted curiously, and she looked over at Carlisle. She remembered Carlisle all too fondly, and knew what her lord father meant for her when he chose Carlisle to open her wings. He had a sound character, and would have been a good rider. Pity her mother had been the one to open her wings. The close to magical bond between vampire and dragon would have been invaluable.

"Carlisle, I wish to speak to you about the past, if you would attend to me in private."

"Of course, Selenay. Lead on."

She nodded sharply, and turned to enter back inside the barn, far from prying eyes. Carlisle followed her, and could not help but notice how similar her bearing was to that of her father. He winced quietly, the memory still felt raw. When she reached the back of the barn, she turned and regarded the blond-haired vampire before her.

"Sit, please." She said, with a gesture to one of the coils of her tail. It was a normal repose for close friends, and the proper message Selenay wanted to send him. She crouched down on the stone floor, still rough and new from the construction, and brought her head closer to Carlisle as he sat himself down on her tail; his eyes open books for her to read.

She began, before he could protest. "You know what my father had planned for us, Carlisle. It was truly unfortunate that events unfolded as they did. But my mother, bless her memory, was the one to open me to the skies."

Carlisle pressed his lips together in recognition of that fact, and a certain tightening of his eyes was seen. "Yes, I remember Selenay. I'm truly sorry for your loss; you know it for the truth. Your mother died very bravely trying to grant freedom to her children… I was among those who came after to bury them. I never did find your body, for which I was grateful, but I was also worried that it meant you had been captured."

"No, they never did catch me; I escaped into the ocean, and followed the currents west. It was a battle, I'll have you know. I was lucky enough to survive; I had help from the other denizens of the oceans, though. I even met a bowhead whale; she let me cruise on her back so long as I continued to defend her and her baby from the sharks that sought her out." Selenay smiled her wolfish smile; it felt good to speak with him again, after so long.

"Really? Wow, that must have been something. You have no idea how stunned I was to see you again, when you were hiding out with the wolves, of course, I didn't know for sure it was you until you shifted and left, and then I was glad inside. This whole time, I thought I had failed in being able to escape in time to warn you guys…they had caught me listening in on their plan, and as I tried to escape, they imprisoned me until after the…event. It was horrible, Selenay." He drew a shuddering breath, and wiped his hand over his face once. Selenay nodded her head, and leaned down to rub her nose through his hair gently.

"Did you want to feel the skies, Carlisle?"

"With my whole heart, Selenay. It had been a great honor to have received the invitation from your father."

At this, Selenay leaned her head away from him, her eyes held a strange intensity to them that made it hard for Carlisle to look away.

"Then be my rider, Carlisle. I can force the bond, if you will it. You can still be my rider, and you can still wear the armor of the Vraellan. I know how to make it; I have entered the Wei Sleep."

Carlisle gasped, his jaw dropping automatically. "You could do that, Selenay?"

Selenay nodded her head; her eyes never leaving his, the excitement kept them both quivering where they sat.

"Then yes, Selenay, I would be your rider. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, and the sky will not be our limit!"

Selenay growled an affirmation of the same, and she brought her head very close, closing her eyes, she reached down with a spear-like arm of her Talent and grasped the node that grew from the combination of several ley-lines of the Earth's power. As she grasped it, her body went rigid with the raw power, then she directed it with her will, and shaped the bond that would link her to Carlisle and he to her.

She forged the connection, link by link, and then found the thread of the connection she already had with Carlisle from her association with him. Panting slightly from exertion, she forced it to combine to Carlisle's own lifethread, and then she linked it to her own lifethread in the same moment. It flared to her Talent-senses, and then shined a bright white to her Talent-senses as the link with Carlisle surged and then found equilibrium, fading after awhile to a black thread, shot with bright blue.

Carlisle gave a gasp, as did Selenay, once the rush of sensations flooded her. Then, exhaustion nearly overwhelmed her, and she staggered and caught herself before she fell forward.

She growled at the rush of weakness that hit her, and her body suddenly disobeyed her, and she crumpled to the ground, Carlisle leaped out of the way, albeit sluggishly, the connection allowed him greater speed and freedom of movement, but at the moment, he was as drained as she felt.

"Selenay!" Carlisle's cries of dismay sounded far away, as she struggled to stay alert, as her head struck the stone, she looked blearily over at Carlisle as he too fell to his knees, and then to the floor, he stretched his hand out towards her, and his eyes stared at her, a mixture of fear for her and for himself alight in his eyes. As Selenay's vision dimmed, she watched with a detached feeling as she watched Carlisle's amber eyes turn violet, with flecks of amber, and his hair turned black.

In that moment, the black mist swirled around her, and she lost consciousness.

Selenay's world went dark, as she was forced into unconsciousness by the drains on her body, she nearly chuckled to herself. _'Such a foolish thing you are, to think you could do something like that, and not feel the drain…'_

She woke up sometime later, her vision was hazy; everything was fuzzy. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, and started to lift her head, all at once the scent of cooked meat reached her nostrils and she sniffed with appreciation, her mouth watering. As she viewed her surroundings, she noticed night had fallen, and there was a very concerned Edward standing before her. He carried in his arms a large flank from an elk, Selenay licked her lips, and reached her head forward towards the flank, but Edward drew it just out of reach. She clicked her jaws shut in annoyance, and tried again, he just moved it farther.

"Alright, what's this about Edward? It's very rude of you to keep food from a starving dragonelle."

"What did you do to Carlisle?" He replied, cold anger laced his voice.

She craned her head around him, and looked at the sleeping form of the dark-haired man laying in the crook of her tail. She looked back at Edward in confusion.

"What do you mean? He's right here."

"THAT is not Carlisle! That man is close to seven feet tall, and he's got black hair! Carlisle had blond hair, and stood six foot three inches!" He roared, his anger now flashing in his eyes.

Selenay wasn't fazed by the spit-fire before her. "Edward, do you want me to wake him up so you can verify his identity? I assure you, that is Carlisle. At least, that's Carlisle now."

"How can I believe that is Carlisle? Huh? You just come in here, and change things all around, and turn everything upside down! And you're smug about this? What is wrong with you?!"

"Edward, will you shut up? You are trying my patience. At least have the decency to shut up until you know the story, whelp! I have chosen Carlisle as my rider, as should have been done decades ago. Now, he is my rider, and I am his Dragon. By forging that bond, there is a certain aspect of a vampire's character that is changed. His change really changes nothing. He is still the same person, just…" – here she looked towards the sleeping forms of the drakes in their stalls—"improved correctly."

Now Selenay gazed down at Carlisle's torpid form fondly, and then nudged him with her tail. "Wake up, little love; it's time to face the world again, as my rider."

The man on the floor stirred, and scrunched up his face. Then relaxed against Selenay's side, Edward stared on with baited breath, as Carlisle's eyes opened, and as Edward saw the violet orbs, he gave a sharp intake of breath. They were cat-like for a moment, with vertical pupils, but Carlisle blinked once, and they were gone. Edward cocked his head, not sure if he had really seen that. Carlisle stood up, grabbing hold of, and using Selenay's tail-spikes for support.

"Edward, I… Oh, I'm taller. Didn't expect that, not overmuch at least. I knew it would feel different, Noomoack warned me. Wow… these hands, they're much bigger, too… ahaha…" Carlisle stretched himself, reaching out away from his sides with his arms. He tilted his head back, and let his shoulder-length hair fall away from himself.

"I feel great… I feel… Young again! Selenay, I feel alive!" With that, Carlisle spun around, dropping his hands to his sides, and then suddenly threw his arms around Selenay's neck. "Oh Selenay, this was how it was supposed to be. One hundred and fifty-three years ago."

Edward remained quiet through the exchange. Something about the exchange nagged at him. There was something not quite right about what was happening, and he felt that if he waited long enough, the thought would come to him about what was so wrong with this whole picture.

Seriously? Carlisle was a giant now, towering even over Edward himself, and he wasn't a short man, Carlisle stood at least close to seven feet tall now, far too tall for any human, or vampire. But that wasn't what was so wrong with this picture… There was something else that was terribly wrong. But it didn't seem unnatural, given what he'd been witness to these past couple of days. He placed his forefinger on his bottom lip, and then rested his elbow in his opposite hand.

It wasn't just Carlisle's appearance. No, it was something else…Sound, yes. Something was wrong with the sound of it all. What was it… What was missing?

There was the normal heart-beat of Selenay's; the heavy tetra-pulse was hard to ignore. But it seemed to echo somehow, as if they were in a cave. He glanced around at the walls of solid stone bricks. That might have done it, but something else was at work here.

Edward broke out of his thoughts as Carlisle was suddenly standing right in front of him, his head turned down towards Edward to meet his eyes. In sudden recognition, Edward's mouth dropped open, and his eyes went wide in astonishment.

It was his heart. Edward nearly hit himself, of course!

"Carlisle! Your heart, it's beating!"

"I should say so, I'm famished, too. How about we go back to the house and get a bite to eat? I could eat a whole lamb…"

"I've got this flank here, you can eat some. But I had brought it for Selenay… I doubt she'd mind."

Carlisle's eyes dropped to the elk flank, his nostrils flaring. "Hand it here, my son. That's looking extremely delicious."

Edward passed it over, and Carlisle lifted it to his lips, and bit into it voraciously. Edward watched in fascination as Carlisle proceeded to rip out entire chunks and devour half of the flank. He turn turned sharply, and almost in a blur, was standing in front of Selenay and handing the rest to her.

"Edward, there is something you need to understand. I'm no longer technically, a vampire. I still feed, but not on blood. I feed on lifeforce now, things unseen by man, and vampires. I am what is known as an Alector in some worlds, an Ifrit is others, and god in still others, but those are backwards civilizations. I bleed red blood, but it would be toxic to you, and I can eat normal foods, even sleep. Ah, what a nice change that will be."

"An Alector? How does one become an Alector, Carlisle?"

"First, you must find the love of a Dragon, and they have to choose you as their rider, that's the only way a vampire could become an Alector. Humans will never be Alectors, though." Carlisle finished, his eyes held a certain sadness as he said this.

Selenay broke in, "Also, because I have created the bond with Carlisle, I can no longer revert to a human-shape. I am solidified into a purely Dragon shape now."

Edward started, "You mean you had a human shape, too?"

"Yes, do you now remember me? Edward, I was that girl with the wolves before, when you first made the pact between you and the wolves. I encouraged the pact, and left. Do you recall now?"

Edward's eyes misted over, his mind recalling the memory of the tall pale woman with the native Americans at the time; her dark red hair, and pale skin that seemed to glow from within, rather than from without because of a coruscation found on a vampire's skin. He nodded his head, the memory clear.

"I should have recalled, I apologize." Edward brought his hand up, and ran it through his hair, the apology had been a strange thing for him.

"It is time I met with my family, Edward. Selenay, would you carry us there?"

"Of course, Carlisle."

They stepped out into the sunlight, and instead of Carlisle's skin gleaming with the coruscation that he had previously exhibited, his skin was instead inert, and it's normal pale color. He still rivaled the paleness of Edward's skin, though. Edward's skin of course shined with a pearlescent color; similar to diamonds; as if he was a massive diamond, and every angle of his being was another carrot of bent light.

Carlisle stepped forward, and Selenay stepped out from behind him. Carlisle quickly mounted, vaulting onto Selenay's back with only using one hand on her shoulder. Edward scrambled up behind him, with little difficulty, despite his much smaller frame. Selenay launched herself into the air; running forward until she was at the cliff edge, and then leaping off into the clear blue sky. Edward clung to the long pearly spikes before him, the wind rushing past his ears and into his eyes at a dizzying speed. The cliff edge fell away from them, as Selenay rose up on the wind currents that were so fierce in the hilly areas of Washington. The rhythmic wing-beats thudding in his ears, as fiery-red walls rose and fell away from either side of him.

Carlisle sat astride Selenay's back, his back straight, as he scanned the hills around them with interest, his black hair whipping back behind him, Selenay's large head cast about, and then arrowed in on the large white house that was their home, Edward craned his head around Carlisle and looked down towards the assembled people in the house, and around it. More had come in due to Alice's movement to gather as many vampires as she could in support to her parental figure.

Selenay banked to the left, coming in on the east side of the house, still in the glare of the sun, she back-winged. As the gusts surged towards the house, heads turned towards the dragon, and blanched at the sight of the figure on her back. Selenay landed, using her Talent, as well as her skill she had gained as a dragon, to aid in her perfection of the movement. She landed without even a single jarring shudder wracking her riders.

She sighed, now that she had bonded; her Talent had grown in leaps and bounds. She even had enough to challenge the might of the Duarches, if they still stood. Her father had only been a scientist, sent to study the humans and document the flora and fauna of the planet Earth.

Carlisle slipped off of Selenay's back, and stepped forward, his height making his eyes level with Selenay's shoulder. However, he looked an interesting sight in his too-short pants, with the sleeves of his shirt reaching only to mid-forearm.

"Esme? My dear, I'm afraid I've grown some, if you could perhaps aid me in this dilemma it would greatly relieve me." Carlisle called out, his distress clear as he realized his appearance.

Esme came out of the house, the voice was definitely familiar to her, but as she looked upon the tall being outside, there was no flicker of recognition.

"Can I help you, sir?" She wrung her hands anxiously; worried she might be gazing on a human. But no human stood that tall! No human had eyes that purple, or hair that black. This was no human.

"Mother, this is Carlisle, I found him with Selenay. He is a Rider now, mom. It's true."

"Good heavens, Carlisle! What have you done? Oh my word, my husband!"

She ran forward, and threw her arms around Carlisle's waist, the only part of him she could reach comfortably now. She craned her head back, and looked up into his eyes, "Carlisle, love, what has happened to you? You've become the lady-dragon's rider now? Is this what has happened?"

"Yes, it's true, love. I am her rider now, as I was meant to be some odd one hundred-fifty years ago. I'm sorry; I'm not a vampire any longer. It is only with me in this shape that I can aid Selenay in her battle against the Volturi. It is a great honor to be named Rider. A chance few ever receive, how could I refuse her, she who has waited as long as I have to see justice done."

Carlisle hesitantly wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders, his arms long enough to have wrapped twice around her; he kneeled down in front of her, and gave her a proper hug, so she could rest her head against his chest, and he placed his chin on the top of her head as they had so many countless times before. Now, things had changed. He had changed.

He was another creature entirely, now. No longer human, nor vampire.

Quietly, he cried. Large tears rolled down his cheeks, and fell into Esme's hair. How could he live now, with his lady-wife, Esme a Vampire, and him an Alector? He knew he could never change back, and knew with guilty pleasure that he didn't want to change back.


	7. Pillars of Strength

The vampires that had originally crowded into the house in curiosity were shooed out by Rosalie and Esme, and then they set to work with brisk vigor with bolts of fabric to make shirts and pants for Carlisle. They took his new measurements, and set to work in Esme's sewing room for the afternoon.

Carlisle escaped outside with the drakka, examining their wing-cases for an estimation of when they would be ready to crack.

_Selenay, is there a chance they may also become Alectors when they break the wings out?_

Selenay turned her heads toward the drakka with interest, her head cocked.

_I hadn't thought of that. It's possible. I don't think the intelligence of the drakka would change, though. The bond doesn't work like that. Get back to your practice, Carlisle. You will need strong shields to face Aro and his brothers._

Carlisle furrowed his brows, and tested the hardness of the wing-cases. They were becoming exceedingly brittle, and the beginning of the flaky edges was a definite warning sign. Carlisle estimated it to about one more day.

"Kebi, Stefan, your drakka will very soon become dragons. You will need saddles, I can make the type you need, but I will need large sheets of leather. Get them for me."

The two would-be trainers nodded their heads and went inside for permission to use the jeep. They left ten minutes later, the jeep speeding down the rocky-gravel driveway. Carlisle began his own measurements, for Selenay as well as for the drakka. By the time the two returned, Carlisle had both the drakka standing perfectly still side by side; their heads erect and completely still.

The two brought their finds forward, and Carlisle turned towards them, looking resplendent in his new clothes. He wore long black cotton trousers, with silver threading, and a black cotton vest, also with silver threading. Under the vest, he wore a long-sleeved silver shirt, with black threading. His black hair was straight, and his eyes level with a somewhat stern visage.

"Bring them here, and get me a knife. I'm going to make you two a saddle, and then you won't even need another saddle. At least until we get back to Inefra, that is. Since you two will shortly become Riders, you will automatically be conscripted into the Myrmidons. Myself included."

They passed over the sheets of leather, and Carlisle appraised them critically, and then nodded his head in satisfaction. Someone passed him a knife, and he began cutting the leather at specific points. Cutting away strips that were superfluous to his needs, he set them aside. Hoping that he could find some use for them. The saddle took shape, with a deep seat and a high cantle. The stirrups were comprised of a short sleeve that one could easily slide their foot into, and then tightened it to keep the foot from escaping. Carlisle set the saddle on the back of Horus, the bronze shifted as Carlisle proceeded to fold and tie a breast-plate across Horus' chest, and then he took out two long strips of leather and with quick strokes stitched the two long lengths on the forefront of the saddle, on either side of the saddle. Then he took those two lengths and crossed them in front of the other and then with two brass clips and two D-rings, he rigged clasps to secure the saddle onto Horus' back.

"Alright, that finishes that one. Stefan, can you replicate that?"

"I think so. Do you have any more of those clasps?"

"Yes, they're in the garage. I will get them."

Carlisle turned and went inside, ducking his head to enter the doorway. He grimaced; this new height took some getting used to. "Oh, Carlisle, Esme and I have finished more outfits for you."

"Rosalie, thank you. These are wonderful, the colors look very good. I shall do them justice."

Carlisle took the clothes, and brought them upstairs to his study. He set them on his desk, and turned to leave. He stopped abruptly, for there in the corner was a mirror. He stepped forward, and examined his visage. He struck an imposing figure, so different from the face and body he had carried all his centuries as a vampire, and as a human before that. He reached his hand up to his face, and stroked his brow and his jaw line in quiet contemplation. With a crooked smile, he turned and left the room.

Downstairs, he walked briskly into the garage with careful, cautious movements. He had become much faster than he had been before, so he had to practice being slower than he had been before so as not to alarm the other denizens of the house. It was enough that a vampire such as himself had a heartbeat, along with his added height, and even his appetite. But… he shook his head. He was no longer a vampire. He was an Alector.

A Myrmidon Alector.

He picked up the brass clips and D-rings, and left out the side door into the sunlight. He would never have to worry about glimmering in the sun now, no. He would only have to worry about his great height, and strange purple eyes. At least, on this planet he would.

As he stepped out, Stefan was finishing the cantle, and settled it onto Moiraine's back, just over her shoulders. He turned and picked up the two long lengths of leather that would become the girth-straps, and with quick movements, he stitched them to the forward sides of the saddle. Carlisle stepped forward and handed over the clips and D-rings, Stefan smiled and thanked him, and returned to his task.

Carlisle turned and looked over to where Kebi was sitting astride Horus, and was walking him around in the field. Carlisle smiled, Kebi had such a way with the young drake. He obeyed her, even though neither of them could speak. His smile froze.

He narrowed his eyes, and focused his Talent-senses on Kebi. Her lifeforce flared a wild green-gold. His gaze darted over to Amun, his lifeforce was the same as any other Vampire. What made Kebi different? Was she perhaps a Talented-Lander, even without being connected to her drake? It made sense, no wonder she didn't exhibit a talent upon becoming a vampire. She was already Talent-born. His eyes narrowed, it would have been his task to destroy her had he been an Alector when she was born. In a few days, it may not matter. He would have to see.

_Carlisle, you will need to create and maintain shields._

_Shields? I suppose you're right. How are they made?_

_Watch._

Carlisle turned his raptor gaze on his dragon, and watched as she began emitting a glow visible only to his eyes, out of the corner of his eye, he amended his thought. Kebi saw it, too. She turned her gaze towards Selenay, and scrutinized Selenay closely. Carlisle concentrated on how Selenay was arranging a large, obvious talent mass. Watching how she started weaving a twisting web of lifeforce. It was like a wall, an intangible wall, through which nothing could penetrate. Carlisle sent out his own tiniest of probes, and pushed against the shield. It skittered over the surface, and slid off. He furrowed his brows and tried again, envisioning a needle-point, with a knife-edge and jabbed that at the shield again. This time, the edge of the shield unraveled enough for Carlisle to see how it was constructed.

_This is a Talent-Shield. Construct it like this. But smaller. Create it to cover your body._

Carlisle nodded his head, and closed his eyes in concentration. He called up his own Talent, and tried to work out his own shields. He used the blue of his own Talent, setting it on the outside, and then wove the black of his lifeforce talent into the inside of his shields. By the time he was finished, sweat glistened on his brow, and he was panting from exertion. Kebi was also panting, but she had succeeded in her own set of shields, albeit somewhat weaker than Carlisle's shields. But that was plainly because she was a vampire.

_Now that you have constructed your shields, you will remain here and maintain them for a full twenty-four hours. Doing so will allow you greater control of your Talent, and more strength._

Selenay's voice rang out in his mind, and he could see Kebi nodding in anguished dismay. He didn't blame her, he felt the same way.

He sat down on the grass outside and settled in to wait. Kebi was dismounting, and doing the same. He offered her a sad smile, and then focused his attention back within himself; examining and tightening his shields whenever he sensed them loosening. He panted; he would have to maintain these shields for another twenty-four hours? He gritted his teeth together, the sweat trickling into his eyes, causing them to sting.

Twelve hours in, Carlisle had stopped panting. Now his eyes carried a faraway look in them as he stared off into space, so drawn up in the Talent-Shield he was maintaining. A cup of water was clutched in his hands, the ice had long melted. The orange that had been proffered to him remained untouched, a small grunt escaped his throat as he drew on yet another vestige of energy. He was fast running out, yet he had to persevere, or he would not have the Shields necessary to protect himself.

Though, he had to admit. The shields were not as hard to maintain as they had been when he first started. The longer he held them; it felt more a part of him than it had been before. While his energy to maintain the shields was declining, the amount of energy used to keep the shields was decreasing, and he could feel the difference between the energy output of when he first started to the energy output he was emitting presently.

He gasped a little, and readjusted his shields as he felt the drain again pull on him. Kebi was still sitting as she had hours ago. Her body still, but you could see in her eyes, the dilation of her pupils, and her too still body that she was getting very close to her own limit, and was possibly in unconceivable agony from the energy drain taxing her body. And she couldn't even feed.

The moon shown as a sharp, sickle crescent in the night sky, and Carlisle counted the hours to daybreak.

Eighteen hours in.

Some time ago, black spots appeared in his vision, and he nearly shook them away, but such a movement would have jammed his concentration. He narrowed his eyes against the urge and then simply closed his eyes, receding further into his mind to try and ignore the fatigue.

It was early morning, he could tell that much from the light streaming through his eyelids.

Shapes and colors dominated his mind's eye. Blurry images of long ropes and colored strings lit up his world, outside his shields. Greens, browns, and tan colored cords surrounded him, and then smaller cords followed as his mind stretched out to feel these strange cords. As his mind brushed the cords, some disappeared entirely while others simply receded from his reach.

Then, suddenly a large cord came towards him, no it wasn't quite a cord, more like a rope; a thick rope. It was large, and dark. Very dark, but not just dark, it wasn't brown, or muddy. It was solid black, with flecks of grey. Suddenly, his world rolled away as he was abruptly pushed over. He struggled to open his eyes, and found he didn't have the strength to do so. By the time he managed to get them open, he saw large white rows of teeth seeking purchase on his shields; big claws were grasping the edge of his shield and Carlisle's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He desperately seized the ley line beneath himself, the big beam of black and green energy underneath from which everything seemed to stem.

Renewed strength filled him, and he formed a spear of knife-edged talent, and slammed it against his attacker. Even as he was surprised that he could actually connect to the world beneath him, so too was his attacker, given the yelp he heard. As the dust cleared, he saw Selenay shaking her head, and appraising him with a bemused expression.

_You have remained like that for close to twenty-five hours. Let go of your shields and come rest._

Carlisle blinked. Then he slowly started unlatching, and unraveling his shields. The energy that was being directed into maintaining the shields now came back to him, and he was suddenly full of energy. His eyes widened at the sensations, and stepped towards Selenay.

Without warning, she launched herself at him again. Claws outstretched, and her mouth set in agape in preparation to crunch down on him. He jerked back, and slammed up his shields once again. Selenay's head was thrown back with the force of the impact, and her claws skidded with a high-pitched keening to either side of his shields.

Quickly, he launched a counter-attack. His Talent shaping into a broad green-tinged scythe invisible to others, except those with Talent of their own. The other vampires on the sidelines watched with growing astonishment, some grasps their arms, and crouched down slightly, feeling the pressures of the Talent-war occurring right in front of them. Sensing it, but not quite seeing it. The blade struck Selenay full-on, but she brought up her own Talent-shields just in time, and deflected it with a forward thrust of her head, the only outward direction of her will.

With the rise of her Talent-shields, she also summoned her own Talent-weapon. A grey-black bar rose up, and then split into three curved crescents, they sprang at him, and Carlisle threw up another shield to augment his remaining shields that had been weakened by her first attack.

_Why, Selenay! What is the meaning of this? I am too tired to continue like this!_

_Carlisle. The enemy would not stop if you are tired. They will continue until you are dead. It is only reasonable that I continue to tire you out, and drive you down, and force you to rear your head back and roar for survival._

With the last part of her sentence, she disappeared to his senses, and then reappeared in front of him, perilously close to his shields. With a deep growl, she breathed fire down on to his shields, and he saw the shields begin to tremble. He grunted, and raised his hands as if to ward off a blow, and then pushed them forward, throwing up another set of shields behind the first set. He took a step forward, and fell to one knee from the exertion. His breath hissed from behind clenched teeth, and he narrowed his eyes.

CRACK!

His shields cracked, hairline fractures began to spread outward from the cone of fierce fire. With a cry, Carlisle threw his whole being into his Talent-scythe, and slammed it against Selenay's shields. She faltered, and the flame died away. And as the flame disappeared, Carlisle watched as the fractures completed their journey, and shattered around him.

He fell to his other knee, now, and kneeled in front of Selenay.

Selenay gave a big, drawn-out breath, and sat back on her haunches.

_Enough, I think that is enough now. You can rest, and eat for a time. Later today, the wing-cases will break, and we will need to make sure nothing untoward occurs._

_ Right…_

Carlisle collapsed there on the ground, and Kebi ran forward to the prone black-haired giant's side. An Alector, she thought, he's badly exhausted… The fight was amazing, though. She glanced over at Esme, and Esme nodded and flitted to Carlisle's other side. Together, they hefted his arms over their shoulders, and lifted him bodily off the ground. They carried him inside, and laid him out diagonally on the bed he and Esme had shared for so long.

"Leave him here, he just needs rest." Esme said, and Kebi nodded mutely. "Kebi, thanks for helping me bring him in." Kebi looked back from the doorway where she had paused at the sound of her name. She smiled once, and left the room. Horus had been whining at her urgently about scratching at the edges of his wing-cases. Now that she thought about it, they did look a bit discolored…

Upstairs alone with her husband, Esme sat by Carlisle's side; looking down at the strange man that she barely recognized anymore. His whole appearance was so strange. His black hair, and gold-flecked purple eyes, and his great height, too; they were all alien to her. But… he was still the same man inside. What strain this new form put him in! He could no longer be seen in public without people questioning him, he stood out too much. She sighed quietly, and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

As she pulled away, she stopped in her tracks by the purple eyes looking back at her, sleepily. "Esme, there you are. I was looking for you. I keep wondering how we will pull together, love. I am an Alector now, and you are a vampire… We will need to find a dragon who would love you, too… So that you can feel the wind in your hair. For once." His eyes slipped closed once again, and Esme choked on a dry sob. He was sleeping more deeply now, and wouldn't wake up again. She turned away, and left the room. She had a hope now, to follow Carlisle once again.

She would need a drake of her own to compete with, and be with, her Lord Carlisle.

Carlisle awoke with a start; Rosalie was standing over him, a hand reaching out to touch him. He looked at her, his left eyebrow rose delicately. "The hatchlings are calling to be opened now, they need help getting the wings open and Kebi wanted you to be there when they opened."

"Thank you, Rose. Let's go then!"

He sat up, and slid his legs off the bed. He rose to his feet with a sigh and peered out the window. It looked to be roughly six in the evening, with a smile, he flexed his arms out away from his sides, and the audible sound of bones cracking was exceptionally hard to miss. Rose's mouth quirked in a lopsided smile; Carlisle seemed completely recovered from just a few hours ago. Carlisle stepped out of the room, throwing up and tightening his shields out of reflex now.

They came outside into the cool evening air, and Carlisle reflexively shuddered, and drew his clothing tighter around him. Kebi was standing there with Horus; the saddle had been removed for the occasion. Sure enough, the wing-cases looked especially distorted, and ready to burst. Carlisle imagined that the whole ordeal must be unbelievably unbearable. Even as he watched, Horus whimpered and rubbed his head against Kebi's arm, and she reflexively reached her hand back and scratched the nearest swelling on his back.

"Well, I'm here now. Let's get on with this, Riders. Stefan! Are you ready to open the wings?"

"Yeah, how do you do that, now? I was kind of hoping you'd tell us that tid-bit of information."

"Oh, my apologies. You need to tear open the wings yourself."

"What? You mean…"

"Yes, exactly. You need to tear them open with your teeth! How else where you tear the Dragon-skin?"

At the aghast expressions on their face, Carlisle realized why they looked so horrified. His eye-brow twitched, and he looked over at them dryly.

"Don't worry, as long as you break open the wings at this time, there will be no blood in the swellings, so you don't need to worry about any… adverse transformations."

Looking somewhat relieved, they turned towards their respective dragons, and Selenay's gleaming maroon eyes watched them intently, along with Carlisle's intense stare. They cautiously brought their heads down on the drakka's backs, and an odd juicy crunch could be heard as they tore through the taut membrane. As soon as they bit through, an odd glow emanated from the four, unknown to them. The congregated vampires all drew back a step, and their eyes looked upon them warningly. Even Bella stopped in her concentration to watch the proceedings. Kebi and Stefan continued, they slid their sharp incisors along in a straight line down the swelling, until they reached the base. Then they moved over to the other side, and did the same.

The moment they finished the ritual, a great Talent-pressure exploded away from them, shining with a bright unnatural blue-white light. Many averted their eyes, or drew their arm up in front of their faces as they tried to see what was going on within the light.

Selenay smiled a wide, dragon-smile. _Well done, my dears. Now you will share the world and fate as Carlisle forever more. Welcome to the power that is yours. You have achieved Vankai. You are Alectors._

The shadowy forms that were crouched over the dark forms of the dragons stood up straight, revealing them to be the same height as Carlisle. As the light faded, and the power once again withdrew back into the earth, Kebi and Stefan both fell to their knees, suddenly faint with a lack of energy. Their lifeforces, Carlisle was pleased to note, were both black, shot with blue like his own. His grin widened as he saw the dragons draw out their wings with a sharp crack of finality. The wind tugged at them, and they looked on the verge of wanting to meet with the skies.

But then, they stopped, and their heads turned back towards the earth where they pointed their noses down at the prone forms of their riders. With a slow rumbling growl, they folded their forequarters to the ground, then their hindquarters, and lastly folded their wings around their riders and tucked their heads under their wings to guard their Riders.

Their Myrmidon Riders.

The dragons subconsciously raised their shields. The vampires who congregated stepped forward, but Carlisle stopped them in their tracks. "Leave them. They are safe enough with the dragons and the dragons will keep them plenty warm tonight. If you haven't noticed, their hearts are beating. When they wake up, they will be hungry. Let's make them something to eat."

They looked at him, and reluctantly nodded their heads. Amun stepped slowly towards Horus' prone form, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Kebi…" He stood there for some time, just staring down at the sleeping form of Horus, and more specifically, Horus' wing. Under which slept the woman who was once his wife. In his eyes, she had made her choice. He could tell she knew what would happen if she broke open Horus' wings, he had seen the look of recognition in her eyes as Carlisle had stated how to open the wings. She made the only choice she could make.

A Rider's Choice.

Carlisle stood there next to Selenay as the vampires left the clearing for their respective places of repose. He sighed, and turned towards Selenay, meeting her gaze. Without saying a word, they both nodded. Their gazes solemn.

Carlisle raised his hands before Selenay's back, and closed his eyes. With his feet spread just the correct distance apart, and his knees bent at just the right angle, his eyes opened to reveal the vertical pupils that had been seen for only an instant before by Edward. Now, Carlisle began his incantation.

"_The sweeping winds draw me away._

_I see you spring,_

_Freely into the Ring._

_How bravely you fall,_

_Oh Lady of the Sky._

_Do you not recall your Rider?_

_I summon thee forth, _

_In my left hand, _

_I bear the mountains of the cold white sands._

_In my right hand, _

_I bear the scourge of my enemies._

_Hina-Mori Ryokotsu!"_

As he spoke the ancient incantation, his voice seemed to carry two entities. Bright blue energy sprang from his fingertips to Selenay's back, taking shape as a deep-seated, high-cantle saddle. The chest straps were ornately embroidered, and tooled finely to shine bright white. The light began to fade as the saddle finished being drawn into existence. The material was comprised of a hard opaque stone that appeared blue, with a leather-padded seat, and back-support for the dragon and rider.

As the saddle finally ended its otherworldly glow, the vertical pupils collapsed back into the normal pupils of Carlisle, and he drew a shuddering breath.

"I don't think I'll ever get over how weird that feels, to have you take over my body like that, and feel my body move around without my command."

_Don't worry; these things take time, and you have been doing very well with your training. You have been improving by leaps and bounds in the few days you have become my Rider. It's a wonder you have not destroyed yourself from the strain._

Carlisle reached his hands out and touched the saddle tentatively. "Wow, still feels warm." He commented idly.

He preferred not to see himself as anything more or less than what he was, and to be complimented made him feel slightly awkward. He cleared his throat, suddenly itchy. He turned his head, and found Selenay regarding him with a thoughtful look on her face. He found he could read her emotions even easier now, ever since the Bond they had forced back in the barn.

"We should get Kebi's and Stefan's measurements, and make them some outfits. Kebi looked shorter than Stefan and I by a good head, Amun was still slightly shorter by a few inches."

Selenay curled up on the ground near the other dragons, and Carlisle looked longingly at her folded forearms. "Wait up, Selenay, I'll be right back."

He spun on his heel, and ran inside as a blur. He dashed up the stairs and look a left down the hallway to his bedroom. There, he rummaged in the closet until he found a suitably warm-looking blanket and returned downstairs. There, the others were congregating, and they turned towards him. Edward spoke up, "Carlisle, we have word that the Volturi's forces will reach us by tomorrow. We're worried…"

"There is nothing to fear, they would not even think to wonder that we have not one dragon, but three dragons with us, and three Alectors. Be on your guard, however, we are stronger, not invincible. But I still have a few tricks up my sleeves. I still have not forgotten the training I received at Lord Noomoack's will. After this, I will have to do something about my being… Say, we should return to Efra. Then Selenay can report her father's findings about this world, and we can be integrated into society."

Edward's eyes widened, going to another world? How?

"Enough, for tonight, we'll speak of this later. I need to sleep."

Carlisle turned and left the house altogether, and stepped out to Selenay's side. She lifted her head sleepily, and Carlisle crawled into the crook of her forearms, tugging the blanket around his body before dozing off to sleep.

Selenay looked down at him, she could tell he was worried, and rightly so. But she was glad he had been able to fall asleep even with so much worry emanating from his soul. An Alector still growing in his strength need much sleep. Even with the years he spent as an immortal. She looked up towards the sky, clouds were moving in, but they didn't look too threatening.

She looked out towards the other two dragons sleeping with their charges, they were strong. Strong enough to be pillars of strength for everyone gathered here in this dark hour. Her eyes twinkled with mirth, that the changes she had wrought on the vampires, and they were so willing!

Yes, she decided. They were pillars of strength; three wondrous pillars of strength.

It would be enough to finish off the Volturi.


	8. Temple of the Wind

LET THIS BE KNOWN: I own nothing in this story except the plot! I do not own anything by Garth Nix, I own nothing by L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s most wonderful series, and I do not own Stephanie Meyer; if I did, vampires wouldn't glitter. As I own only the story line, and nothing in the characters, or anything as such, don't sue me!

Oh yeah, Selenay is mine. That's it. And so are the other little dragons in this story!

Now, on to the story!

Temple of the Wind

Seth crept into the clearing, edging towards the three dragons sleeping in the field. In his wolf form, he was able to see much more clearly, and he could move more quietly than in his human shape. As he came within a few feet of the enormous red dragon that was Selenay, he began to feel more at ease; he didn't know the other two dragons, or where they came from. Caution was the best course of action.

He gave a low whine, and one large maroon eye flicked open and regarded him alertly, then the eye closed again with finality. Seth's tail drooped sadly, thinking she wouldn't let him sleep with her. As he turned away, however, he heard a soft shifting and a crack and turned to see Selenay's wing lifting up welcomingly. He wagged his tail, and laid down next to her side, her wing came down protectively, and curled over him and he closed his eyes with bliss as the warmth seeped through him and found his eyelids too heavy to keep open.

He fell asleep within seconds, his gaze drifting over the fiery wing, and his ears listening to the rhythmic sound of Selenay's heart beating.

Selenay smiled as the young wolf fell into a deep slumber, and wasn't surprised when seconds later, his sister also crept into the clearing. This one, tired as she was, had questions.

"_I heard that you are the one who gave the wolves the gift of rapid recovery."_

_I did._

_ "If you did, then I want to know what's wrong with me."_

_Why do you think there is something wrong with you?_

_ "Sam… The Alpha of the other wolves, a long time ago he and I were very close. So close that, at one point, I thought that he was going to marry me."_

_I see. And what happened?_

_ "He didn't Imprint on me." _Now, the girls' anguish was clear from the whole manner of her being. Her whole heart was torn up over it, Selenay's eyes narrowed in sympathy.

_What of it, girl? It is clear that you love him a great deal, but I don't see what's wrong with you. You seem fine. My thermal scans of you are completely normal; your scent doesn't seem sickened, or blighted. Are you wondering if you are infertile or something? There is nothing wrong with you._

_ "What do you mean! If there was nothing wrong with me, why didn't he Imprint on me?"_

_Because you are not his soul mate. It's that simple, now get over it, and come lay down. Your soul mate is somewhere in this world, but if you won't look at him, how can you find him?_

Chastised, the she-wolf dipped her head and tucked her tail. The Authority carried by Selenay was enough to make even an Alpha tremble. Perhaps she was some commander of the shape-shifting wolves? Leah shook her head, and stepped towards the welcome and enticing warmth of the great dragon's side. The wing lifted up encouragingly, and Leah buckled down at Selenay's side, and fell asleep soon after.

Jacob came out onto the porch, and spoke under his breath, though he knew Selenay would hear him. "I would like to thank you for talking to Leah for me, I've tried telling her she would find someone else but she wouldn't really take it to heart."

Selenay lifted her head towards Jacob, "It's up to her if she does something about it or not. I have explained to her that she is a healthy, viable woman."

"Still, I'm glad you told her, you told her what she needs to hear."

Selenay nodded her head, and then she looked down at the sleeping form of Carlisle in her arms and smiled. Then she looked back at Jacob standing there on the porch, and uncurled her tail invitingly, he took the bait and sighed gustily as he collapsed down in the coils of her tail and fell asleep.

So it was in the morning, when the other vampires came out that morning and saw wolf, dragon, and alector all sleeping together in peaceful repose.

The morning dawned misty, and Carlisle was standing by Selenay's side outside the barn on the Cliffside that had been the dragon's home for only a short while. Using his Talent was becoming much easier now, and he was holding his shields at full power. With the help of Selenay, he drew on the lifeforce of Earth to create the weapon of choice for more Myrmidons; a skylance. It was comprised of blue crystal, and was approximately six yards long. It had a long handle, with a leather grip, and a wide guard. He hefted the finished product in his hands, feeling the weight and balance of the weapon.

This would be the weapon of choice for him, it would also be the weapon of choice for Kebi and Stefan when he finished making theirs.

He sighed and set it in its holster on the saddle of the right-hand side, and then took his stance to make another. He sought out the massive green and black ley-line beneath him and linked to it, energy surged upwards and he suddenly felt the sensation of being larger than life, he raised his hands and directed his Talent into his hands. Light welled up in his palms, glowing purple and pink in the morning light, visible to everyone, since he was manifesting it in the physical plane. The light arced across his hands to meet in the middle, and then the light turned bluish-purple as a long lance took shape. The light faded leaving behind a long blue crystal lance in his hands, another rudimentary skylance for use. It probably wouldn't last more than a few dozen uses, but that would be enough to wipe out the Volturi, and their lackeys no matter what forces they threw at them.

He shook his head, he couldn't believe himself actually thinking in that manner, he didn't want to fight. Not really, but Selenay was his dragon, and had been introduced to him when she was a hatchling with the intention that someday they would rise together into the skies for eternity. This went beyond what he wanted to do, her life had been torn away from her the moment he had accepted, the moment when Aro had heard about him being selected as the candidate instead of him.

Now it was up to him to follow through as her rider and have the strength to finally stand against Aro as he had failed to do then. He would not back down, he could not. Selenay depended on him. Everyone depended on him, and Bella with her growing shielding powers, and on all of the others who had those helpful talents, like his daughter Alice, she had gone off on her own to do God knows what, but whatever she was doing it was working; more and more vampires joined their ranks. He only hoped that she would be safe.

He passed the skylance off to Stefan who looked at it with awe as he carried it off to his saddle. Carlisle raised his hands and worked on another one for Kebi, her change was the strangest to his eyes, she was now as milk-white as he was, and her hair was still the same inky-black, but now it had a straightness to it that it didn't have before, her violet eyes just a little more red than his were. But then, his had flecks of amber in their violet depths. He supposed that the small bits of color had been from when they had been vampires and their main diet consisted of certain bloods.

He finished Kebi's skylance and passed it off to her, and the moment her fingers touched it, the light filled her eyes as she felt the energy thrumming in her fingers, with a simple thought-trigger, she could send a beam of burning energy out of the tip that could level the trees in front of her for a good seven-hundred yards. She carried it off to her saddle and loaded it into the holster. Finally, the three were outfitted for battle, each wore the clothing that had been hastily prepared by Esme and Rosalie the day before and that clothing had been Talent-enforced by Selenay early that morning.

The battle would commence today, and the other vampires had already left for the meeting-ground where the battle would take place. Carlisle's squad would be coming up from behind, especially if it turned towards the ill, and the Volturi were less than pleased with Renesme. Somehow, Carlisle thought that Caius would definitely want to kill the child, bitter as he was about the fate of his own child.

Aro would probably want the child to stay with the Volturi, and that was something Carlisle could not allow. Marcus… God only knew what that man was thinking half the time.

Carlisle nodded towards the others, and vaulted into Selenay's saddle, he slid his feet in to the stirrups and seated himself firmly, when the other two were also ready, he sent the signal to Selenay, and she Talent-pulsed into the air, coupled with her wings to aid her ascent to the skies. Horus and Moiraine were close behind her and they set themselves to glide up towards the sun and out of sight of the enemy vampires; after all, even a vampire found it excruciating to look at the sun, especially with their heightened senses that also included sight.

The wind roared furiously in his ears as Carlisle craned his head around seeking the clearing that used to be the baseball field of his family. When he sighted it far below him, the field looked so small he almost mistook it for a simple glade before seeing the gathering of vampires within it. Even as he watched, he saw the forces of the Volturi step out on the opposite side of the glade cautiously.

Selenay also spotted them and an infuriated growl erupted from her chest and up her neck, making him vibrate and tremble on her back. He tightened his grip on the handholds, as Selenay fought to control herself from diving right then and there. He lifted the skylance from the holster and leveled it across his lap, his right hand gripping the handle tightly, and his fingers of his left hand dug into the edges of the saddle.

He saw the others prepare themselves for the dive, and ready their own skylances. When they all glanced over at him to bow their heads in readiness, Selenay hardly waited for him to command them to fall, she dropped from the sky on her own, Carlisle's grip on the saddle vice-like as he pushed himself deeper into his seat. His eyes never leaving the scene between Selenay's ears as a light purple mist drifted unnaturally across the battle ground, the power of Alec, brother to Jane, and the sure sign that the Volturi were making the first move. Carlisle was screaming in his head at his friends just standing there to move. To run! Run away from it! But to his horror they continued to stand there, the mist traveling towards them, wrapping around their legs and would soon immobilize them. He squeezed the handle of his skylance more tightly. The fools!

But to his astonishment, they did not crumple to the ground in a daze, nor in agony. He watched instead as a large russet wolf, Jacob, raced off away from the gathering with a dark-haired child on his back. Renesme. He was saving Renesme. Carlisle grinned sardonically at that, at least she would have had a chance to live freely, at the cost of her parent's lives. He narrowed his eyes, he would make sure it wouldn't come to that.

He leveled his skylance as they surged closer, Selenay began to level out as she snuck up from behind the Volturi. She veered to the left as Horus veered to the right as they reached the edges of the clearing, they circled the clearing and landed with Selenay landing close to the center but off to the eastern side of the clearing facing the Volturi, with Horus landing on the western side. Moiraine with Stefan dropped down behind the Volturi and amid the hissing and snarling, the skylances were lowered at the vampires standing there.

Selenay arced her neck in the classic S-bend shape as she drew deeply upon her fires.

Demetri uttered a few expletives that could not even be pronounced in gracious company, and Aro and Caius and Marcus's eyes all widened considerably at the sight of the three dragons.

Aro was notably furious as he gazed upon Selenay's form and recognition flashed in his eyes, along with sudden fear. He glanced sharply back at Jane who was staring at Selenay with something akin to incredulousness and horror displayed on her features openly.

"Damn it all, I thought she was dead! Jane—!"

That was all he managed to utter, before a bright blue beam shot forth from Carlisle's skylance with a high-pitched whistle to slam into Aro's body. At first, there was some semblance of a shield protecting him, and his bodyguard was seen kneeling in front of him, a look of utter concentration on her face, before her eyes rolled back into her head and she screamed in agony. In that moment, Selenay also unleashed her fires with full fury in her gaze, the bright fire was a brilliant shade of red and yellow similar to her own scale-patterns.

The fire lashed out across at Caius and Marcus, who were caught off guard at the sudden assault on Aro, their ringleader. They tried to escape, but the fire was on them, and dragon-fire was a oily mixture that could not be extinguished. Their forms burned on the ground, their screams dying away quickly as the fire roared to life with renewed ferocity. Dragon-fire was found to burn through vampire-kind very quickly.

With that the wolves rushed forward, their growls and howls echoing through the air as they launched forward and caught the wives unawares. The wives of the Volturi were severely disadvantaged as they had not fought much, however, they fought bravely till the end.

Horus and Moiraine were caught up in the melee and targeted the enemies in quick order, their bodies moving sinuously to pounce upon the fleeing vampires quickly, smoke from the fires filled the air, and Selenay now launched herself forwards to strike out at her enemies, she roared with all of her pent up rage at the injustice she had suffered, all at the whim of a jealous man.

Carlisle was thrown back in the saddle from her quick jolting leaps as she pounced on first one enemy and then another, leaning her head down to rip the heads from their bodies as her claws rent limbs. A short blast from her nose left the body burning as she then launched forwards to attack another. Carlisle lashed out with his Talent on multiple occasions as various vampires of the Volturi tried to launch a counter-attack on him, attacking out of grief for their fallen leaders and desperation.

Carlisle's heart sought to reach out to them, but a strong reminder was in his memories of walking through the Aerie of Selenay's father, running over to every dragon lying there on the ground, torn and broken. They had offered no such mercy on the dragons as the scientific extraterrestrials slept, and none should be given now. They were all fixing to destroy his own coven, simply on the provocation that he _may_ have been housing a child Vampire.

Carlisle snarled in sudden pain, as a Vampire had gotten past his defenses and slashed at Selenay's shoulder with a downward lash of a clawed hand, Carlisle reacted immediately out of instinct and slashed through the man's lifeforce node. The node sprayed away, and a look of surprise crossed the man's face before his body disintegrated into the wind. Carlisle was dumb-founded, he had never thought to use Talent like that. He shook his head as if to clear it, and tried to shake off the numbness that had tempted to overwhelm him at the touch of death.

They were nearing to end of the battle, soon, all he would have to do was finish off whoever was left. The other vampires were fighting now, and Selenay and the other dragons had to exercise extreme caution in their wild attacks now. Carlisle's shoulder was still stinging with pain that carried through the link with Selenay, and he quickly reached out with a small spear of Talent and pressed against the wound, healing the artery that had been severed, and reviving some of the flesh. He could not heal wounds, but he could make them less serious.

Suddenly, through the red rage-filled haze, Selenay stopped and stood there panting with exertion. Carlisle was confused, and leaned his head towards hers, and looked around himself cautiously. "Selenay, what is the matter?"

"It's done. The Volturi has been ended." She said after a long pause.

He sat back, and viewed the carnage around him. The other vampires looked upon Carlisle with open fear and disquiet, and the other two of his kind with the same expression. Gazing around the clearing, he knew why; the majority of the damage to the enemy had been done by him and Selenay. He lowered his skylance, and looked around himself with a dazed feeling. They stood on the edge of the panting, and Carlisle trembled where he sat. He had never killed like this before, never had he been filled with such rage, but it had been so justified. No matter it was a rage that flowed like quicksilver through the empathic link with Selenay. These men and women who followed the Volturi knew what kind of men they followed, and they enjoyed and shared their sentiments. No, the men deserved what they received, for what they had done to the family of dragons who had once called them friend.

But the people he had known for so long, and who had grown to love and respect him now looked upon him aghast at his power. He needed to salvage this somehow, he couldn't let them fear him as they did. They had nothing to fear from him, or Selenay. He placed the skylance back in its holster, and Selenay turned towards the vampires standing there. She gazed around herself as if she also was realizing the carnage they had wrought that day.

She stepped back into the center of the clearing before halting once again, with a groan she sat back on her haunches, and then lowered her forelimbs down to rest on the ground. Carlisle slid from her back, grateful to be on the ground again after such a vigorous ride.

"What are the casualties, somebody, is everyone alright?"

Edward came forward, his eyes had a glazed look about him as he read the minds of everyone around him, looking for pain amidst the quiet chaos. He listed off the few people, Selenay and Horus among them, that needed treatment, but otherwise, everyone was fine.

Suddenly everyone present swiveled their heads toward the South, as they heard the footfalls of several unknown vampires, Edward suddenly started smiling, his eyes bright with relief and surprise. Seconds later, Alice arrived in the clearing, a confused expression on her face. Her gaze took in the wolves, and smoldering pile of ash and the half-consumed remains of vampires wearing the cloaks and uniforms of the Volturi. Jasper was just behind her, looking as if he was preparing to place Alice behind himself. Two other vampires were just two steps behind the Hales, Rosalie gasped from beside Emmet, and Emmet donned a perplexed expression on his face.

Jasper was gazing upon the dragons with a calculating look on his face, as he weighed the feelings he was receiving around the clearing from the dragons themselves and the pale strange creatures astride them. Something about the largest of the dragons, the big red and gold one, caught his attention, given that the emotions from her –he didn't know how he knew, he just thought she felt feminine—were controlled and the caution he felt from her was directed towards himself and Alice, and the two with them.

Shortly after he registered those emotions, the figure sitting on her exhibited recognition, love, relief, and more love pouring from his being at the sight of himself and Alice. Abruptly, the big red-and-gold dragon relaxed, and her wings drooped toward the ground and she breathed another gusty sigh. With her relaxed position, the other dragons followed suit and then the supposed leader –given the size of his dragon—dismounted and came to stand next to the dragon's head.

How odd, Jasper thought stupidly, none of these dragons wear anything that would control them. Where were the bridles? The long lines to tell them where they need to go? Wait—were they sentient?

All of a sudden, Nahuel, the hybrid he and Alice had worked so hard to find, stepped forward, his eyes full of wonder and trepidation at the sight of the dragons, his aunt was next to him doing the same. Alice was staring at Selenay in shock.

"You! You were what I kept feeling back in Arizona! Why I didn't see Bella make her decision to save her mother! You were fogging up my visions, now I know it's not just Renesme and the wolves, it was you too!" She exclaimed, growing more animated with every word. Selenay watched her, partly fascinated as she tried to decide if the little vampire was angry, "You are why I haven't been able to see my own future since I decided to come back, though hybrid over here wasn't helping, either I guess." She stopped and looked around. "Where's Carlisle?"

"I'm right here, Alice." She looked at the source of the deep voice to see the tall, purple-eyed man step forward, his eyes warm and his expression honest. She frowned. Something was wrong here.

Bella moved to the edge of the clearing, meeting with Jacob and Renesme, as they had seen the dragons drop towards the Volturi and had paused to watch the battle some distance away. Their voices didn't vary very far.

"Who are you?" Alice said, doubtfully. Unwilling to believe that this man was indeed her father.

"I am Carlisle, Alice. I was changed, thanks to Selenay here."

"No, no. Carlisle was a golden-eyed, blond-haired vampire. And he was much shorter than you besides. He was my father, and you are living, anyways!" She said, shaking her head in disbelief. Edward came to the rescue.

"No Alice, this is Carlisle. That is Kebi and Stefan over there on the other two dragons."

She stopped and really looked up at Carlisle, peering up at the giant's face. Recognition slowly flickered to life in her eyes. "Daddy?" She squeaked in a soft voice. At his confirming nod, she squealed in surprise and pleasure.

"daddy!" She flitted forward, and Carlisle crouched down to embrace his daughter. He placed one hand on the back of her head, and tousled her hair just as he used to. His hands were big then, but now in his new form they were enormous. They completely dwarfed the tiny female and as his arms folded around her slight frame, his elbows clicked together.

Watching them together, Alice appeared to look like a tiny child embracing her giant of a father.

After they broke apart, Alice took in the destruction of the field; the broken bodies of the defeated and destroyed vampires, and the smoldering piles of ashes which burned merrily in the damp chill morning, and smelled of exotic incense.

As Carlisle and Selenay appraised her gaze, he became sheepish.

"You did all this, Carlisle?"

Carlisle scratched at the back of his head, a habit he hadn't felt the urge to do in _centuries_. "Well, I had help. But yeah, more or less, most of it I'm afraid."

She stepped away from him to get a clear view of all the company of wolves, vampires, and the dragons, then she looked back at Carlisle. He looked pained, his gold flecked eyes violet eyes were sad, but not filled with regret.

"Are you afraid, Alice?" He asked, quietly.

Alice took a step back, her head tilted in confusion. "No, I am not afraid. What a silly notion; me being afraid of you. I have found what I was looking for, too. Proof that others like Renesme exist." She turned and beckoned towards the darker-skinned vampire near Jasper.

"This guy is Nahuel. He is a vampire-human hybrid, too." Now everyone noticed the faint heartbeat, Emmet swore loudly, and Esme snapped at him with an "Emmet, language!" Rosalie looked excited, and began tapping Emmet's shoulder excitedly, "See Emmet, I knew I was hearing something odd about him! And look, he barely shines. Just like Renesme!"

The faint heartbeat of Nahuel was barely noticeable in the presence of the three dragon's heavy tetra-pulse heartbeats. There was a collective gasp, and the great red dragon moved toward the new hybrid. Nahuel crouched, and he drew his fangs back in a gravelly hiss.

Selenay paused and tilted her head at him, "Don't be that way, I won't bite you. Just curious. Aren't you in the least bit curious about me? Do not fear me, littling." The red dragon said, in oddly accented English much to the newly arrived vampires present there, the older hybrid as well.

Nahuel shifted his dark gaze on the others near him; on Alice and Jasper, and his Aunt just behind him. He was curious, had been curious since he had seen her. He moved slowly in a half-crouch closer to Selenay's head, she cautiously tucked her throat solidly against the ground, Selenay made herself look as harmless as possible in that moment, watching him with large maroon doe-like eyes and her fangs politely covered. It wouldn't do to let him see the small flakes of coruscation from the many vampires she had torn into with fangs and claws.

Nahuel tenderly brushed his fingers against her cheek. Satisfied, Nahuel stood up straight, and walked toward her shoulder, Carlisle stood on Selenay's other side, keeping a cautious eye on Nahuel, worried about another repeat of what happened with the other two dragons.

Everyone held their breath when Nahuel leaned down and brushed his nose gently against Selenay's neck, even Selenay's eyes widened a fraction as her eyes rolled in their sockets to focus on him intensely as she turned her head ever so slightly toward him, ready to strike. But they released it when all Nahuel did was snort and pull away.

He placed both hands on Selenay's shoulder and spoke for the first time.

"You speak well for a creature whose jaw was not made for speech like ours. Even though you look like some beast, I see you are not. You don't smell like food, so you aren't food. Not for eating." With a brief push, he crouched against her. Selenay chuckled darkly, "I would fear not for my life if you were to sup my blood, but for yours."

"Do you mind if I sit on you?" He asked instead, his mouth twitched at her words though.

"Not at all, if Carlisle doesn't." Carlisle shook his head negatively, and Nahuel vaulted up onto Selenay's back. Some of the wolves growled, they didn't really trust this new hybrid much.

After looking around for a small moment, Nahuel leapt off Selenay's back and then proceeded to touch and examine Selenay's wings, finding them especially fascinating.

After that, it was Selenay's turn to poke and prod him with her snout and tail tip, viewing him from all angles and asking him questions about his health and diet. Bella, Jacob, and Renesme soon arrived to the circle, curious as to the goings-on of Selenay's inspection of the strange figure. Renesme pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the unknown figure, she quickly slid form Jacob's back to clutch at Selenay's leg. Jasper raised his eyebrows at Renesme's uncharacteristic surge of jealousy erupting from the small hybrid's body. Bella was also surprised at her daughter's actions, but said nothing. Jacob just look at the child in quiet consternation before huffing and looking away. Chalking it up to the child's irrepressible fascination with all things bright, colorful, and shiny. Of which Selenay excelled at all hands down.

"You are very interesting, Nahuel. How long have you been alive?" Selenay said, as she came to the end of her curiosity over the creature. "One-hundred and twenty years; after five years I reached full adult maturity and stopped growing."

"And your heart beats like our little Renesme. Very interesting."

Nahuel was watching Renesme now with even more wonder; possibly the first time he had seen another half-breed who wasn't related to him, Jasper thought, inwardly he chuckled at the thought that Jacob might even have competition for Renesme's love.

A silly notion indeed, as Jasper watched Jacob crouch closer to Renesme, Renesme responded by placing one hand on Jacob's neck, love and adoration pouring forth for the large russet wolf.

After Carlisle finished assisting with the injured that afternoon, Selenay and the other dragons as one threw their heads back and trumpeted their incredulous joy at their victory.

The battle was finished, and the Volturi had been eliminated there in Washington.

Three days later, and Carlisle and the other Alectors stood in the underground courtyard of Voltaire with Selenay. The dragons Moiraine and Horus were basking on the sun-warmed rocks far above and out of sight of humanity. They had just finished culling out the vampires still loyal to the Volturi and secured the capital of vampire-kind. Selenay was then proclaimed Queen of the Vampires of the world.

Selenay and the other two dragons had flown the three Alectors to Voltaire, and had met little resistance as they penetrated the immense underground structure, though to be honest, who could really stand up to three Skylances and Dragons' fire? The rest of the Cullens would be coming by air soon, along with as many wolves as who wished to come. Everyone was in good spirits about the whole ordeal, moments after stepping off from Selenay's back, Carlisle had smiled his easy smile and began the task of healing everyone much faster than they would have healed on their own with his own Talent.

Two days after securing the hold, Selenay and Carlisle began combing through the storerooms in the depths of Voltaire while Kebi and Stefan began the work of converting rooms for usage by a division of the Cullens and a detachment of the wolves. Selenay was scrabbling frantically at a door she was much too large to fit through herself, but was equally determined to get through anyways. Carlisle was also excited, the images flashing through Selenay's scattered mind making him giddy with a strange delight.

"_Carlisle! Come quickly! I smell something wondrous here, I smell my kind!"_

"_Tell me, what is it, exactly? I can't see with you blocking this portion of the tunnel…"_

"_I smell eggs, Carlisle! Eggs! I'm not the last one here; I've got siblings!"_

"_My word, Selenay, let's get that door open then!"_

A long keening whine echoed through the tunnel which Carlisle was approaching.

"_I can't! It's locked! And I can't fit my claws through any cracks, either!"_ She cried piteously, desperation making her act frantically and without much forethought.

Carlisle took a glance at the door, and ran back the way he came, catching sight of an old key ring with keys that looked remarkably similar to that kind of lock. With the keys in hand, Carlisle came back to Selenay's side, and slipped by her as she steadied herself so as not to hurt him unwittingly.

He stood in front of the door, her warm breath blowing his hair about, while fiddling with the key ring, and trying all the keys. Finally, after the fourth attempt, the key slid in, and he twisted it.

_Click._

Selenay was fairly dancing with excitement as Carlisle twisted the lever, and pushed.

Dust trickled down, and the door moved hesitantly with disuse. The room inside was wide, but with barely any room for Selenay to even put her head through. Carlisle stepped into the room, and Selenay tried to follow but the doorway was much too narrow, and she was only able to get half her neck through the doorway.

The air inside was musty and Carlisle knew then that this room had not been used or even visited since the treasures had been placed here.

Inside were three trays, filled to the brim with sawdust. Inside were three large mottled eggs, Carlisle carefully reached his hands out to them with tenderness in his gaze. How long ago was it when he had looked upon the eggs of Selenay's other siblings and her own egg when he had still been such a young lad trying to find his own way in life as a newly turned vampire?

He remembered when Noomoack, father to Selenay, had found him on the edge of a cliff, contemplating his own demise. He remembered the strange pressure of dissuasion as Noomoack fought with Carlisle not to end his own life, and instead follow him and learn many things not even discovered by human kind, by human doctors about healing and surgery.

With that teasing bit of knowledge, Carlisle had turned away from his own thoughts of death and followed the great red dragon back to his Aerie to learn science with the Sky-King. He had come to love the dragons, and their ways, and when Selenay's mother clutched and he had been one of the first of vampire kind to behold the future sons and daughters of the brilliant scientist, he had been in awe.

He remembered the absolute adoration he felt as he had held the newly hatched Selenay several years later and had felt new resolve to live and find a way to live that would not hurt other sentient beings. To no longer harm humans, and learn to survive off of normal animals. There was no way he could have considered suicide now.

Carlisle had no fear the eggs would hatch at this time; to hatch, they needed fire and lots of it. He lifted them all in his arms, and cradled them carefully as he worked to balance each one in his arms. They were only slightly smaller than a football, and were much harder than they looked, as well as much heavier than they appeared.

He settled the first two in Selenay's waiting jaws and she tucked them away under her tongue where they would stay until she had managed a proper Hatching Ground for the three remains of her father's colony of scientists. He carried the third egg in his own arms as the pair walked back towards the old throne room. Selenay's tail was twitching happily with the discovery of her own kind, and her mind was brimming with the knowledge she would need in order to hatch her siblings.

Once they hatched, they would need constant attention. Preferably with another dragon, and Selenay was certain that Moiraine would be fascinated with the hatchlings. However, she was already determined that she was going to be the main provider and guardian of the three hatchlings and none could refute her right.

After finding a suitably large room off of the east wing of Voltaire, an abandoned ballroom, Selenay started by settling stone into the floors and reshaping the stone walls with her tongue and converting many of the windows into open chimneys for ventilation. Since the windows opened into a cliff-side, Selenay also created broad landing-pads made of slate to prevent any humans from getting a look inside the Hatching Grounds and to also provide the landing areas necessary when the young drakkas rose with their new wings to the skies for the first time. With Carlisle's help, she had fine sand transferred in to the Hatching Ground, and spread thickly across the ground two feet deep.

Mindful that not everyone would be able to handle the heat, Carlisle and the other vampires helped Selenay construct a patio that ringed the room, and Selenay had one more load of sand brought in to bring the sand to four feet deep. Deciding that was plenty of sand, Selenay went to the room directly under the Hatching Ground, and had everyone help her convert it to a massive oven fueled by dragon-flame on massive dried tree-trunks which Selenay had dragged in herself, aided by the Cullens of course.

This whole time, Selenay had the three eggs tucked safe and warm in her fire-hot mouth, absolutely refusing to set them out of her sight, just like any brooding queen. Carlisle and the others would just smile and humor the great dragon queen, as they recognized the changes occurring within the red female as being a young-mother syndrome a few had been lucky enough to witness in Bella during her brief, yet dangerous, pregnancy.

Finally, the fires were ignited, and Selenay set up a watch on the fire between herself, Esme, Embry, Edward, Bella, Carlisle, and Kebi. And while Selenay was not on watch over the fire, she was in the Hatching Ground with the eggs she had deposited on the scalding hot sands. While she lounged in the sand coiled directly around the eggs, others who went to watch the eggs while she was on duty in the Oven, as it was quickly dubbed by the others, would stay on the wooden patio created just for that purpose.

This close to the fires, Selenay almost could not distinguish the vampires so close to her, as they remained in almost constant proximity between the Oven and the Hatching Grounds and so had begun to lose some of the icy characteristics she had noticed with those not close to the dragons. Also, as they came to live in closer and closer proximity with Selenay, they began to take on warmer characteristics than their brethren, they weren't as cold to the touch as foreign vampires were, and color began on their bodies naturally. Carlisle was of course fascinated with the changes.

During the years before the eggs hatched, the next generation of wolves were born, though it was undecided whether they would be wolf or dragon. As toddlers, their eyes began to take on the orangey-red shade of the dragons, and other changes began to occur over time that were unique to their generation. Fed as they were on their mother's milk, and Selenay's blood. With their mothers drinking Dragon-Blood during pregnancy and while nursing, it was no wonder the changes became so apparent early on. The children rare got sick, and would sometimes be found sleeping too close to the fire, much to the terror of their mothers. One young two-year-old girl was once found curled up in the embers of her mother's cooking fire early in the morning.

The child was unharmed, though no one could pick her up because she was so hot to the touch. The child screamed only when someone dumped water on her as she slept, upset at the water hissing and sizzling around her, and getting her all _wet._

In the end, it was really no wonder that the other vampires that had moved into Voltaire began to share some of the same characteristics with Selenay, as her own Talent-magic subtly altered and changed the beings around her. The Egg-watch took many years, and when the first egg began to rock, the other dragons congregated in the room that chilly morning began to hum with excitement, waking up their riders and the wolves in the room. Vampires nearby wandered to the room, wondering what the sound was about. As the answer became obvious, many ran to the kitchens to get the fresh red meat that would be needed by the young hatchlings.

In the four years of close living with the dragons, the eyes of the resident vampires had taken on a orangey-gold color, and Carlisle and Kebi and Stefan all looked much more at home in their bodies; they moved with an alien and fluid grace that few could ever achieve, even among vampire kind.

As it became known that Voltaire had become an Aerie to dragons, many vampires who visited it, and even those who were residents in Voltaire had dubbed it the "Temple of the Wind" since most of the balconies facing away from the city had been converted to use for Selenay and the other dragons to enter and exit the relatively underground castle. Selenay was pleased with this new name for the new dragon haven, as Voltaire seemed just a bit to chilly for her memories.

Selenay had grown also; her wingspan stretched across to thirty feet now, and her scales were looking burnished and very healthy due to her fully awakened state with plenty of food, and having a sand-bath every day in the scalding sands.

Selenay was crooning with excitement as she weaved her head back and forth over the eggs protectively, her tail coiled about them. As if anyone was about to come charging at the eggs to snatch them away from the increasingly broody dragon queen.

Her eyes flashed as the eggs continued their struggles, and the movements became increasingly erratic.

_Crack!_

The humming increased in tempo as the dragons voiced their encouragement to the struggling hatchlings. It was instinctive for Kebi and Horus, and though the pair could not talk, they held even greater intelligence than before, and understood basic words spoken to them and commands issued by their riders as if they were thoughts in their heads. Which was usually the case, as Stefan and Kebi learned more and more about their own anatomy.

Long cracks appeared and finally, the first egg split almost perfectly in half. The hatchling tumbled out clumsily and lifted his head, crying piteously. Selenay was ready with a chunk of red meat and eagerly fed the child from her own mouth. Thought-images of gratitude poured into Selenay's mind as the hatchling devoured the meat whole, barely pausing to chew the gobbets of carefully cut flesh.

As the other shells cracked open, and the other two hatchlings also fell out, Horus and Moiraine each took chunks of meat into their mouths and approached the hatchlings. The hatchlings struggled with renewed vigor as the fresh blood reached their nostrils, and many of the vampires pressed themselves against the wall.

There was no way they were going to go over the hot sands and face three angry dragons, and three hungry hatchlings just to get at some bloody animal meat.

They all knew the story of Jared and Samantha, who were foolish enough to sup from Dragon's Blood, and turned into dragons themselves. Many in retrospection as they watched Moiraine and Horus play and interact with their riders and the other vampires and wolves of Voltaire thought it would not be such a bad way to go. With that admission, they were often kindly rebuked, and sent away for a time to reconsider that thought.

"Rational thought is one of the greatest gifts of sentience, and Horus and Moiraine, as much as we love them, do not have that." Carlisle often stated when the foreign vampires ever brought it up. With that, he would look sadly over at the dragon pair, and shake his head.

Many others had high hopes for Moiraine and Horus, when the residents of The Temple of the Winds noted the increased self-awareness and intelligence the longer the tame dragons lived. Edward, who was privy to their thoughts often remarked on their progress.

Renesme had grown up remarkably fast, but had slowed down when she reached maturity. She had the most fascination for Selenay and her eggs, and was often speaking to the eggs while they were incubating in the sands. Being half-human, the sands were not too painful for her to step on, and she was able to sit with the eggs and trail her fingertips over them as she crouched on Selenay's foreleg.

Everyone clapped, all three of the eggs had recovered from being in limbo for so long, and had hatched into beautiful baby dragons; one was a monochromatic green-blue female, identified by the fact there was no armored crest sweeping from her brow. Another was a deep indigo and blue, also monochromatic, male. The third was the oddest of all, a true solid bronze male, there was no monochromatic shading of his scales, each individual scale rippled the same color and had no shading of a darker gold or bronze color, nor any lighter yellows or greens to hue the scales.

All three of the dragons, Selenay and the tame dragons, spent most of their time in the Hatching Grounds pampering and seeing to the little hatchlings every wish. Moiraine and Horus were remarkably a talented and ingenious pair when it came to learning what the little drakkas needed. Selenay had hummed and hawed over names for the little hatchlings, and ended up with names from various books she had been reading while incubating the eggs over the past few years.

By 'reading' meaning she had Carlisle sit with her and read to her while she brooded and rolled the eggs around in the sand. It was purely chance that the books she happened to be reading at the time were books by Garth Nix, and she had been totally enthralled with the magical bells of the series.

The female she named Mosrael, because she was the first to awaken, thus she claimed that she "woke up" first, the indigo and blue male she named Saraneth, since he was so beloved of everyone that all who came into contact with him ended up getting him something he wanted. Most often food. The bronze she named Yrael, because he was so obviously different from the others and that made him somewhat unique in color.

Everyone was having problems with the names, tripping up in pronouncing them properly except Carlisle, who had spent so much of his time reading those names to her, he had it down perfectly to the last silent vowel, and lilted sound.

Selenay was quick to murmur that the little bronze was probably not genetically related to the other two and so had not the same genes to express monochromatic colors. But she didn't recall if whether or not there was any draconic scientist on board the initial colony ship who could have had such genes expressed.

After that statement, everyone was clamoring to know how her father originally got to Earth in the first place, and she quizzically told them of a spacecraft her father and his scientists had brought to Earth in the first place and sunk in the Arctic Circle, knowing that people probably wouldn't come close to discovering it for a long while, and by then, the team would probably be ready to go home.

"Which, I believe, is now." She said, the bronze male was playing in the lap of her forelegs, and Carlisle was standing close by. Renesme was sitting and talking with the other two drakes, rapidly sharing and talking to the clamoring hatchlings. Esme had also grown rather fond of them, and chances were that one of the three hatchlings would choose her for their rider when they got older.

Esme was ecstatic over the news of the possibility, and had hugged Carlisle as well as she could manage, given her lack of height, and his surplus of such.

"Oh Carlisle, this means so much, it would be such an honor! How could they want to choose me? I'm not really anything that special, take Renesme for instance, she can talk to them in their own manner… I don't know if I'm good enough, really…" She had fussed, but Carlisle came to her rescue.

"My darling love, you are perhaps one of the sweetest, most loving people on this planet. There is no way they have not noticed it, I am sure they will choose you. One of them will."

Since Selenay had capitulated the Volturi, it was only natural she chose someone to take over ruling the vampire society. After looking at the wolves, and Jacob's ever-growing little pack, she decided to make Renesme her heir, since everyone had been calling her the Queen of Voltaire anyways. With Jacob by her side, and with Embry and Quimby, and Seth, and Leah in the pack, with others looking on in interest, she should do well.

Of course, Edward and Bella would be there to help guide the half-blood. And the rest of the Cullens, minus possibly Carlisle and Esme at least.

The wolves that had been living with all the dragons, and running experiments with Selenay, were already looking more dragon-like in their shifting appearance; their necks were longer, their heads more sharply angled, and their tails also looking longer than usual. Their fur was also taking on a different appearance, too. More similar to flat leaves than actual fur, though the texture was not very soft. It was also shorter, and the hair-follicle beds were looking wider and crescent-shaped.

It usually came as a result of drinking some of Selenay's blood, which she let out for them with the nick of a claw on the inside of one fore-claw into a bucket with regular raw meat from their latest hunting trips. They would drink and eat the mixture in wolf form. Selenay had at first found it fascinating that the shape-shifters who drank her blood along with some meat would fall asleep afterwards, but as they kept doing so more often, their features began to change.

Selenay hoped, with more experiments, to give the wolves a more dragon-like appearance. Since they were shape-shifters, if they learned to take on a purely draconic appearance, they would become dragons, and not wolves.

She encouraged families among the wolves, and only those also interested in her research stayed. Particularly Embry, who had been fascinated with the idea that someday, he might see his son fly through the skies as a dragon. Or even himself, if he happened to be especially receptive to her blood.


	9. Soul of the Fire

It was mid-summer when Saranath spoke his first words out loud, sitting on the heated sands of the Hatching Grounds, he had lifted his head one morning to look straight at Esme coming in with a heaping tray of fresh meats, and said.

"Would you be my rider?"

Esme was stunned, and almost dropped the tray. "Wh-what?"

"It's really a simple question, Lady. Would you be my rider?"

"Why, yes! Of course, Saraneth, I would be honored!"

At that, Mosrael piped up, "Hey! How come you asked her first? I was going to ask her, Saraneth!" Mosrael whined.

Saraneth tipped up his head rather proudly and said, "Well, I just happened beat you to it, Mosrael. You should have been quicker. Now she's mine!" With that, Saraneth trotted across the sands and curled his body around Esme's legs.

"Oh come now, I need to bring everyone their breakfast. Please let me pass, Saraneth, and I'll give you some holding time."

Saraneth brightened up at that, and uncurled himself, allowing Esme to set down the massive tray of chopped slivers of meat and fish. The other two drakkas ambled forward amicably and began eating their fill, they were no longer voracious things once they had the knowledge that there was always going to be plenty of food to go around.

Esme watched Yrael as the three drakka ate, he hadn't offered even the slightest protest at her being claimed by Saraneth. She gave a small smile, the young drake probably already had someone in mind. Or maybe, he just had no interest at the moment. There was still ten years yet until their wings opened. As if feeling her gaze, he looked up, his molten orange eyes were unreadable. With a blink, he went back to his food.

Esme didn't have any more time to ponder the bronze hatchling anymore as Saraneth butted into her lap, and demanded she hold him. She wrapped her arms and coiled them loosely around the hatchling, a tender smile gracing her lips.

He was hers now, and she was his.

Saraneth followed her through the passageways doggedly from then on, reveling in simply being allowed to roam with Esme, not having to have a reason for not being on the warm sands of the Hatching Grounds, playing with his siblings.

He didn't care what anyone else said, he had spent a long period of time in the shell sitting near Mosrael and Yrael and he considered the bronze his nest-mate.

While Esme went about her tasks of cleaning up imaginary dust particles around the Temple, Saraneth trotted happily shoving his nose into every corner that caught his fancy. Occasionally Esme would come across the large red-gold dragon-queen Selenay, and the large female would croon at Saraneth and nuzzle him behind his ears. He knew the Dragon-queen wasn't his mother, but she was there, and she was kind to him, so he didn't mind it so much. Usually, Selenay would be lounging in the vast throne room, near the Hatching Grounds, with Renesme sitting on her foreleg.

She was training the vampire half-blood to take over for her for when Selenay and the other dragons left for Enefra, or Efra, or Acorus. One of those three planets that had been colonized by the Alectors. He felt excited by the prospect, he would move to another planet with a whole race of his own kind, and more Alectors! Where humans were not the top dogs, but the underlings to the two superior races that lived outside of time.

His existence wouldn't have to be kept secret, and he would be allowed to fly with no fear of discovery.

Well, the Dragons themselves lived outside of time, the Alectors had extended life-spans. Dragon Hatchlings were rare on populated planets, because their life was tied to the planet they were born on, the planet regulates the Dragon's ability to live. When a planet reached maximum capacity in the Talent-Creatures known as Dragons, hatchlings came fewer and farther between.

All this had been explained to him, hurriedly, as an explanation as to why he had been allowed to be born. The Talent-Creatures had a better feel for the planet, they did not strain a planet, and cause it to die. Their own Life-force actually helped feed the planet with their energy they didn't use themselves.

But for now, he would be content to allow himself to feel close to the Dragon-dame who helped him, and defeated the cruel cold vampire who had imprisoned him and his siblings. She was a wonderful mother-surrogate, after all. Always making sure he ate his meals, not that he needed encouragement, and always crooning and licking and grooming him and his siblings.

She was amazing.

To know she was a hybrid even among their kind, half Sky-King, half Sea-King, it was amazing she looked so well formed. Most looked so odd, maybe that's why she survived.

Sure, her neck was longer than his, as was her tail, which oddly tapered down to a fluted tip that resembled something similar to a fan of some kind. But her wings! What glorious wings! They were even larger than her proportion allowed for, naturally. But it fit her, she was very lithe for a dragon, and moved with an odd grace that he would never achieve, being fully of one breeding.

One in seven is not good odds, though. Only one out of the clutch of seven born of Noomoack and Irenia was capable and able to fly and swim. As far as he knew it anyways. And Saraneth considered himself to be a logical little drake.

Esme was the most logical choice in the world. She was mate to Carlisle, whose brave exploits in the world gained him favor with many. She herself was a kind and motherly creature, but she was far from stupid. Thirdly, she had a determination and a will of iron to match that of any Alector, and she controlled what she felt with absolute certainty. Such a skill would be doubly helpful among the Alectors when he turned her.

Time passed slowly, it was an unspoken time for the young drakka and drakes to grow and reach their majority, to see who they would choose for riders before they set out to leave the planet with the Alectors transformed by the Talent latent within their wings.

-~*S*~-

Kebi had grown accustomed to her body long ago, and found after a time her sorrow at Amun leaving had grown to a dull ache. He had found her to be unacceptable, and she had thought to have known him well, surprises were at every turn it seemed. Though she thought she had seen her fill of them.

It didn't hurt as she initially feared, Horus was there the whole way, and while he was as mute as she was, he could impress upon her the feelings he shared for her, and it was good enough. She could feel his mental caress of acceptance and love, and joy at her being his. The sensations so intense it often made her cry, and imagine her wonder that she could indeed cry! Her first tears had fallen some time after she had woken up after being made an Alector and found Amun be so cold and distant towards her.

Benjamin still spoke to her, and his mate Tia also treated her warmly, but Kebi could feel their conflicted feelings of old loyalty to Amun, and their affection for her. Gratefully, at the end of the day, no matter what happened she could fall into Horus' embrace, and be comforted by a gentle nuzzle at her back as he comforted her as best as he could.

The bronze drake had grown large, and resembled from Selenay's mind pictures, the picture of Sky-King excellence in breeding. He had broad shoulders, and a heavily muscled body, a thick tail, and large wings to support himself in flight. He didn't really have Selenay's lithe form, and her over-large wings, but he was beautiful in her eyes, with his bronze scales that glimmered with a light golden undertone.

He seemed built like a bull, with his strong and thick neck, and bulky quarters.

Kebi would have him as no other, her glimmering red-flecked violet eyes shimmering with unshed tears as she threw her arms about his neck in the darkness of their private rooms.

Her hair she kept tied back in a braid, it had grown long now that her body circulated with new blood, and she had been surprised by the changes, and the arrival of her menstruation several months after the battle. Esme had discreetly collected tampons for her to use.

Like a regular boy, when she first started her monthly bleeding, the drake had given her the weirdest look and ran out of the room, snorting in displeasure to clear his nostrils of the scent of her blood.

She was told that Amun had left back to Egypt, Benjamin and Tia had moved in to the Temple in one of the lower chambers. She ate breakfast with them occasionally, sharing stories and catching up.

Too bad, if he had stayed, he may have been able to impress one of the dragons to become their rider. He always wanted power, there was his chance. It was for the best, though. If he was power-hungry now, he'd probably be power-hungry later and cause trouble or some such.

_*~S~*_

Yrael watched dispassionately as Mosrael hrrrmmed and thrummed over her decision of a rider, as upset as she was that Esme was chosen by Seraneth, she grumbled that there were plenty of other vampires to chose from.

But Yrael was not concerned, even if he didn't choose a rider from among the vampires, there were always the choice of choosing an Alector off planet. But, Selenay had expressed that they have something to show for themselves. That they needed to show that it was possible to transform Landers (aka Humans) into vampires, and then, through the connection of the Talent-Creatures known as dragons, into Alectors.

But not only that, but the Alectors ended up being reasonably strong Alectors with considerable number of skills that would make them useful to the planets. Probably left-over energy and brain capabilities from their former Vampire status. His tail lashed with uncharacteristic frustration.

Who was he to choose? Seraneth had made the first move by claiming Esme, which put pressure on him and Mosrael to also make a claim. With news of Seraneth's claim, other vampires now looked upon Yrael and Mosrael expectantly, and even hopefully.

Yrael wanted to growl with the unfairness of it all.

Instead he settled for stretching languidly and ambling off down the halls, no one barred his way, and it was just as well for he was in a poor mood. With his scales hissing softly as they scraped against each other, and his claws clacking sharply against the stone floor, it gave everyone forewarning of his presence. He wasn't quite as bulky as Seraneth, but he also wasn't as lithe as the diagrams Selenay had created of Sea-Kings.

So, Yrael wondered which he was; Sea-King, or Sky-King? He wouldn't really know until his wings came in. That aggravated him to know end, not knowing who his parents were or what they were.

He found himself following the cavernous passageways down to the floor where the resident shape-shifting wolves lived with their human wives. Children's laughter reached his ears, and they reflexively twitched as he recognized the sounds. The passageway opened into a large cavern that would have been dismal if not for the tall windows letting in light and fresh air on the right side of the room.

The floor was clean and swept bare of dirt to uncover the stone underneath. On the side of the cavern closest to the entrance Yrael came in at was a deep still pool. It's depths receding straight down, but in the dim lighting of this corner of the cavern, you could not see the bottom. Even so the water was very clear.

Cave entrances opening into the cavern were bedecked with wooden shingles that denoted that these were the living spaces of the children playing here, their bright faces and shining eyes were carefree indeed as they played their wild-child games. Their dark hair, and russet-red skin denoted their wolf ancestry as American natives. Yrael stopped behind a boulder and clambered atop it, so he could watch them. He had never seen the children of the wolves he had been familiar with during year he had been alive. Women were about, watching the children as they played in the sunlight streaming in as they set about their tasks during the day.

But the women had no interest for him, he was interested in the children.

They were young, yes. The oldest was possibly three. But in ten years, that child would be a young grown person, maybe even another wolf. Now, imagine if he were to take a human for his rider. Such an experiment would probably be ill advised by Selenay, but these weren't ordinary humans, they were descended from wolves. Not only wolves, but the Dragon-like wolves of Selenay's fold. These wolves actively fed on Selenay's blood, which she bled for them through a single fore-claw. And now those wolves had fathered children who carried even more of a dragon-like appearance.

It wasn't immediately visible, but after awhile one noticed the way their eyes were not the normal dark-brown to black of normal children of their heritage, but the orange-red of a dragon. Their fingers were long and shapely, yes. Delicate even and dexterous in their skillful movements. But if you looked closer you would see that the nail beds were slightly different. The tips of the nails ending in a point naturally.

Also, you could tell whether one was born of dragon-blood or not because when they rough-housed, and fought together in the sand, the one who didn't carry the traits always came away with small claw marks on their skin, where as the children who wrestled together that were born of the dragon-blood came away unscathed. As careful as they tried to be with the more delicate children, it was impossible to completely keep them from danger.

Eventually, a claw would cut too deeply, and a child would pull away. Blood running down their back. Usually, one of the other children would immediately run off, coming back with a jar of ointment and a wash cloth. The women would come forward and supervise the dressing and cleaning of the cut, and the children would resume their play. The injured party sitting still as their mother would ensure there would be no infection.

The most astonishing thing was that none of the children cried out, nor would tears run down their faces. They would scrunch up their faces in misery, but no sound escaped their lips.

Yrael watched them in fascination, and tried to work up his own courage to join in their games, or even just make friends with them. Even if they were only wolves, they were children. And children could be very judgmental of others and brutal with their opinions.

Eventually, he noticed a young girl sitting away from the others, she didn't join in the games, and didn't even appear interested in what the other children were doing. She was staring into the clear pool of water near the edge of the cavern. The child wore a loose-fitting black shirt, and her cut-off jean shorts were completely soaked. She seemed to be concentrating very hard, her arms hugging her knees to her chest as she gazed at her reflection. The water lapped at her ankles, but she didn't seem to notice.

Indeed, it became clear as to why the child was alone. Even as Yrael watched, he saw her eyes flicker and turn a sullen red-orange color, and as she did so, her body also started shifting. Yrael blinked, he didn't know when the wolf children started shifting, but this was definitely not normal.

Her body stretched out, seeming to burst out of her own skin while at the same time moving slowly. The child fell to her hands as she released the barest growl of exertion. She crouched on her toes and fingertips, her neck elongated and a tail erupted from the base of her spine. There was a blurring flicker as her legs became the _saa_ and her arms became the _sii_ of a dragon. When the transformation was complete, she stood there trembling, before slowly looking back down at her reflection. After a brief period, her tail lashed to the side, and she straightened to assume the Attitude of Accomplishment and the Attitude of Pride.

Her clothing was in tatters on the ground, and in place of the girl stood a young emerald green dragon. She chirped happily, and waded into the water. Seconds later she had sunk beneath the surface and disappeared from view.

Yrael leaped from his rock to the edge of the pool to look down into the depths, his eyes searching for the girl. With a snort, he backed off from the pool and clambered back onto the rock. He desperately wanted to talk to her. If he wanted to talk to her, then he would wait until she returned. He clambered back onto the rock to wait.

What a mysterious lass! Selenay would be very curious about this girl. His lip twitched at that thought.

It might be better if he talked to the girl first. This was his discovery, after all.

Several minutes later, the angular green head surfaced, and orangey-red eyes seemed to glow in the water. She waded out of the pool and shook herself of the remaining water. Yrael chirped at her, getting her attention.

Her eyes widened as she swiveled her head to look up at him, and she gave a soft hiss in surprise.

"It's okay, I just want to meet you. I'm Yrael, what is your name?"

She cocked her head at him and opened her mouth before closing it again. Finally, with great difficulty, she spoke. "I am Lily. My father is Embry, you're one of the three dragon hatchlings, aren't you?"

"Yes, Selenay is my mother. How long have you been able to transform like that?"

She girl looked down, and scratched at the stone. "I've been practicing for days, that was my first complete transformation."

"That is amazing, Lily, I would hardly know you were of human descent if I hadn't watched you shift myself. It looks perfect." Yrael slid down from the rock to move closer to her, the inclination to smell her was intense, he had to know what she smelled like.

When he drew close, his suspicions were correct. She smelled exactly like a dragon should. "Are there more of you, Lily? Has any other children managed to transform as you have?"

She shook her head, in human fashion. "No, none of the others have been able to, yet. But it should be soon. I am the oldest of the bunch, and I was like those children before."

Yrael tilted his head once more, "How old are you, Lily?" he asked quietly.

She looked up at him, surprised at the question. "Me? I'm almost five."

Yrael was struck by the oddity of it, he remembered a discussion he had overheard when he had been eating a few days shortly after becoming self-aware inside his egg, the words hadn't meant anything to him at the time. Just grown-up talk.

"_The first of the next generation of shape-shifters has been born, a baby girl. She probably won't be able to shift herself, but her children might." _

"_What about that other girl, Leah? She can shift. What if this one will be like her?"_

_There was a long pause. "We still don't know what happened to cause Leah to disappear, leaving as she did shortly after the battle in Washington. My little birds tell me they had received reports about a strange girl in various parts of Europe, who knows, really. Jacob says not to worry, though."_

"_But what about this baby?"_

"_Dismiss the worry over her for awhile, if she does manage to shift then it will mean that Selenay's genes might be working on the females of the shape-shifters to have the capability also."_

_A long sigh was heard, "I see."_

Yrael focused on the girl in front of him, "Lily, would you mind coming with me? I'm sure Selenay would love to meet you."

The girl nodded hesitantly, "Okay, let me tell mommy though."

With that, the girl shifted back into a human, and she picked up her remnants of clothing before pulling the rags on as best as she was able to before running off to the entrance of one of the caves. Children paused in their play to see her run away before their heads swiveled his direction.

Yrael suddenly felt very exposed there, the children cheered and ran toward him with cries of "Brother, my brother!"

They ran their hands over his shoulders and sides, and he fought to stay still lest he hurt any of them. He was growing more anxious by the moment, though. He was not used to being treated like some celebrity or an honored individual. He was just Yrael, just a young dragon, but his own person like anyone else.

There was nothing to be done about the children however, so he just stayed still as best he could. Lily came out a small moment later, and she shooed the children away, "Away with you guys, can't you see you're making him uncomfortable? The poor hatchling is unbearably shy." She chided imperiously, the other children deferred to her and backed off, with calls for Yrael to come visit again tomorrow.

Yrael decided that the children were harmless, and another visit wouldn't be so bad. He might even have fun.

When they reached the darkness of the passage, Lily shifted again and they trotted together up the passageways to the upper levels. When they reached the throne room, where Selenay was crouched, conversing with Lord Carlisle. Their discussion came to an abrupt end when Selenay flicked an eye over at Yrael and Lily and her voice trailed off. Carlisle, curious as to what caught her attention, looked over as well to see the other dragon next to Yrael.

"Yrael, welcome. Come here you two, let me have a look at you." Selenay said, her eyes wide with astonishment.

Yrael nudged Lily to walk with him as he walked forward, "Lady mother, I found her in the lower levels, where the families of the wolves has taken residence. She is only the first, there are several more siblings who may shift soon, too." Lily blanched at Yrael's casual response to the enormous dragon. Was he insane?

They stopped only a few feet from the dragon-dame, and she brought her head down to gaze at Lily in wonder, "What is your name, child?"

"My name is Lily, I'm pleased to meet you, Lady Selenay." The child murmured shyly. Her legs quivering in her nervousness.

"Lily, please call me Selenay. How long have you been able to transform, child?"

The girl dipped her head, "Today was my first complete transformation, Se-Selenay."

Selenay tilted her head, "First 'complete' transformation? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, for awhile, I could only change my eye color, and manage only the briefest shift before I would lose my concentration. It's very disorienting." Lily found that talking to the dragon-dame was not nearly so intimidating the more she spoke with her, she began to lose her old nervousness after a small period.

"I see, what a strange thing. You are quite a treasure, and a joy to my heart to see. You dear child are the future of a new race of dragons. Now tell me, what did you feel as you were beginning to transform? When you first started to notice the changes that were beginning to take effect within you?"

The young girl cocked her head to the side, "Well, I felt a burning sensation, it was almost unbearable. Like a fire was trying to bloom inside my very body. The only thing that gave me relief was to float in the pool whenever that happened. This time, I just forced myself not to jump in the water, and concentrate on this feeling when it came to see what would happen. Afterwards, I allowed myself to glide into the water, it felt very nice."

"Well done, thank you Lily. I think that was your soul changing within you, it is known as the _"Soul of the Fire."_ Young dragons that are born as dragons begin to feel that sensation when they reach five or six years old. It's when their fire-bladder becomes active, and they can begin to actually breathe fire." the massive red Dragon-dame explained. "You telling me you were five years old confirms my suspicions, now. It is the blossoming of the Fire-Soul that causes the final straw to fall into place as the catalyst for your transformation. Now, would you like to come with me to the Hatchling Grounds? It's quite nice."

The young dragon glanced at Yrael, who nodded encouragingly, and at Carlisle, who was smiling benignly down at her. His gold-flecked purple eyes gazing on her with wonder.

Meeting Selenay gaze once more, she nodded eagerly and Selenay smiled down at her before turning and leading the way through another side passage, past a set of stone stairs leading downwards and into a vast room filled with sand, large doorways on one side opened onto an enormous balcony.

Another two hatchlings were sitting in the sand, wrestling playfully. Off to the sides was a large bronze dragon, who was watching the hatchlings play with a relaxed and gentle expression. As Selenay entered, the bronze dragon looked up at her and crooned a welcome. Selenay returned the greeting before stepping out into the sand with a gusty sigh of relief. Yrael was quick to follow her example, his tail curling around Lily's foot to do the same.

Without a further thought, she stepped out into the sand and she stopped and stared down at the sand in astonishment. It was _warm._ It felt so good, too. Lily walked out the rest of the way, and wallowed into the sand knee deep.

Mosrael and Seraneth stopped their play to see the young dragon now wiggling happily in the sand. They looked over at Yrael, who tilted his head smugly at his discovery. "Where did you find her, Yrael?"

"I found this little sister in the lower caverns, where the families of the wolves of Voltaire live. Many of the children have been born and raised on Mother's blood. I wouldn't be surprised if others started shifting in the coming years, too. This one is about five."

Mosrael's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow, we'll have more siblings, soon! Seraneth, isn't that great? We'll have more siblings, soon!"

Suddenly, there was a great whooshing sound from the balcony. Heads swiveled around to see lithe green Moiraine landing neatly on the landing platform, her Rider and companion Stefan sitting poised and relaxed in the saddle, his eyes taking in the scene with curiosity. After slender dusty-green female walked down the ledge and onto the sand, she enmeshed herself into the sand with a gusty sigh and Stefan dismounted.

"What have we here, Lady Selenay, Lord Carlisle? Another hatchling? Or is this one of the shape-shifting offspring ya'll have been breeding for?"

Carlisle frowned, "I wouldn't so far as to say 'breeding,' Stefan, they are precious creatures, and the first beings resembling Talent-Creatures born without draining the world of Lifeforce themselves. This is truly a momentous day, Stefan…" Carlisle and Stefan walked off together, talking quickly under their breath.

Seraneth grunted an affirmative to Mosrael's comment, while Mosrael bounded over to Lily to invite her to a game of strength. Lily spent all afternoon with the dragons of the Hatching Ground until evening set in and darkness fell. Lily's mother collected the sleepy lass for the evening, and Selenay accompanied the woman down to the lower caverns, a yawning Lily draped across her back as Euphemia and Selenay spoke quietly together.

Weeks passed, Lily found with actual mental effort how to link her mind to the hive-mind structure of the wolves of her father's pack. Being the first shape-shifting dragon born of the wolves, she felt adrift and apart from both worlds.

Yrael became a steadfast supporter through her loneliness despite his being so quiet and stoic. For hours they would just sit side by side in the Hatching Grounds or by the pool of water where they first met, and watch the ripples spread across the surface of the pool from a rock flicked from a tail tip. Most often, they sat near the water. It was always the water that drew them both closer. The dark mysteriousness of it all, and how it often reflected the ceiling and other fantastic shapes the more they watched.

It was fascinating.

That was not to say that was all they did. Yrael would join the human children in their wild-child games, and wrestle with them as carefully as he could, or allowed them to climb on them. Lily joined him in his endeavor, and when she asked him about it, he would brush off her comments saying he was only monitoring the children to see which child would be next to shift.

Other times, she would find him watching her, with an unreadable expression on his face. Occasionally flicking his tail. She wondered what that meant. She had the feeling that something was probably bothering him a great deal, but when she tried to get him to open up, he would only sigh and shake his head and tell her, not unkindly, that he was "running out of time" and he had to make a decision.

It was just turning mid-summer when one of the children started exhibiting the same signs as Lily did before she began her shifting. This child was also four, but he would be turning five that winter. He was the second child of the Dragon-blooded wolves born. He started isolating himself from the other children more, and a concerned and wild look would enter his eyes every now and then.

One morning, he just started shaking like crazy, and tore off his clothes, whimpering almost frantically about something "burning, burning inside me. This body can't live with this fire!" with that, he ran to the pool and launched himself into the water, and in the wild confusion of the water splashing about, the child shifted entirely. His body transforming into a scarlet red-scaled young drake. The young child thrashed in the water for a few seconds during which Yrael and Lily quickly dove in and fetched the youth out. As he lay panting on the ground, his tail still draped limply in the water, Lily and Yrael noticed that the red of his scales faded into a dark violet on each of his four legs.

They talked to him, and welcomed him to join them in the Hatching Grounds to speak with the "Blood-Mother" of all the dragons presently inside Voltaire. Selenay crooned over him and asked him the same set of questions as she busily groomed him dry and clean after his recent foray into the very cold water. Lily speculated why she hadn't reacted in that manner to the water; sure she dived in, and swam for awhile, but it was rumored that even Selenay was able to swim well.

Thus, Alec was born into the fold of the dragon shape-shifters.

Seraneth and Mosrael got another playmate in the Hatching Grounds, and Lily got another friend of whom was of neither one world or the other. She still hung out with Yrael most often though.

Neither Mosrael or Seraneth, nor Yrael seemed to really notice or care that she and Alec was descended from wolves, or was still partly human.

Lily was glad for that, it made it all the easier. But the thoughts that arrived from some of the older wolves of her father's pack made her feel alienated. She knew they couldn't really help the thoughts, they had no control of where their subconscious took them, but she couldn't help being the way she was.

The older wolves did their best to sound hopeful and proud of their children who were born to shift into dragons instead of the wolves they so resembled, but some felt the resentment that they would be the last generation of wolves born.

Jacob, the mate to the half-blood heir Renesme, did his best to quiet their thoughts on the matter, reminding them that they were warned of the possible side effects of drinking Dragon-Blood. In fact, they were told of the aim for being fed the Dragon-Blood; to possibly breed wolves to shift into dragons, instead of wolves.

It was hard to ignore the benefits of drinking Dragon-Blood for the wolves; the wolves grew stronger, faster, and possessed more durability against vampires, also, the longer they had been drinking Dragon-Blood, the more their features changed minutely. Wolves who hadn't Imprinted yet were eager to see what would happen after decades of feeding on the Dragon-Blood. But with the results of their initial forays before them; their own children starting to shift into something other than what they were tended to be a hard truth to swallow.

Other fathers, like Embry and Paul, were excited over their children. Embry's daughter Lily was the first to shift, which came as a surprise to many of the wolves, fearing another Leah. While Alec was a true blessing to the quick-tempered Paul, who cherished his little son and enjoyed watching the child go about his business and exploring his capabilities as a dragon on the Hatching grounds and playing with the other dragons there. The three older dragons looking on.

Later that winter, all the Cullens living in America came to have Christmas with their patriarch, Carlisle. Rosalie and Emmet being among the first to return from their recent tour of Europe. They were anxious to check on the progress of the dragons, and this would be their second time to see the hatchlings in the year they had been alive.

Emmet and Rosalie stamped their feet free of snow as they stood inside the entranceway into the main throne room, Emmet carrying most of Rosalie's bags for her as well as his own duffel bag. Esme greeted them warmly, hugging them and kissing their cheeks.

They saw Seraneth sitting on his haunches right next to Esme, and greeted him with their own cautious hugs. It was easier to bear the sweet smell of his blood because of their memories of what happened to Jared and Samantha when they supped from Selenay's blood, and also feeding on animals made it about as bearable as dealing with a slightly less than appetizing human.

"My loves! How was your trip? You _must_ tell me all about it as soon as you get settled." She exclaimed, as she led them down the hallways to the bedroom they would be staying in. Emmet and Rosalie exchanged looks then looked at the back of their mother's head, "Well, we met Leah, that runaway wolf, in Russia. She was an interesting sight to see, but she seemed alright. We kept our distance though, she never liked us much."

"Oh? Was she happy?"

"What? Oh yes, she found her Imprinted, and has been trailing that poor kid ever since. We had to translate for him what was going on with Leah to make her follow him so persistently. He was a good sort, should be good for her." Emmet laughed, Rosalie elbowed him sharply.

"The child was barely ten, and imagine what you would do if you found an enormous wolf who won't leave you alone, and even scared off everything that could possibly touch the boy with ill-intent. The child thought he was cursed, but things should be alright now, he's an orphan living on his own, and after explain to him what he was to the girl, he invited her in and let her sleep in his little house." Rosalie clarified, "now she hunts for him, and cares for the boy, and he has been teaching her Russian, she's teaching him English."

"Well, I'm glad she found herself her man, well boy for right now. I'm sure things will turn out well. It's not easy to ignore that kind of devotion."

"Hey mom, why is Seraneth following you around like that?"

"Oh! I haven't told you guys yet, have I? I am to be his Rider when he grows older, he's chosen me! Isn't that exciting?"

"Wow, that's great, mom! Then you can finally match dad in height after that! Congratulations!" Emmet said, Rosalie just smiled and hugged her mother warmly.

She had heard about Kebi getting her menstruation after becoming an Alector, and was secretly jealous of it. But she would never say anything about it; no matter what, Emmet was a blessing in her life. If she were never chosen to be a Rider along with Emmet, she would still be happy just with being with him.

Later after the pair were settled in, they went in to check on the hatchlings and were ecstatic to find even more young dragons in the Hatching Grounds. The spell Selenay had cast upon the Oven underneath kept the fires burning eternally, as long as the Lifeforce node beneath the castle was still tied to Voltaire so it was amazing that the sands were still hot.

Emmet was quickly drawn into a wrestling match with the young dragons, and easily endeared himself in their hearts. Mosrael especially watched both him and Rosalie, her tail tapping in time with a tune only she knew.


End file.
